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As part of sustainable agricultural innovations and the alternative food movement, agroecology provides important tools to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Yet very few existing studies have explicitly addressed their linkages. Synergies among the SDGs are often examined at the national level, overlooking nuanced opportunities revealed by small agroecology initiatives at the local scale. Based on literature review, field visits and semi-structured interviews with farms and relevant organizations in China, this research investigates how locally embedded agroecology practices lead to advancement of multiple SDG targets and facilitate the synergies among the SDGs. It also highlights their motivations, achievements, and challenges. We argue that the technocentric metrics of SDGs underappreciate the application of traditional knowledge and small-scale low-tech innovations. By bringing visibility to low-tech and small agroecology initiatives, this paper advocates for stronger inclusion of grassroots agroecology initiatives in SDG discussions among researchers and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TWO THOUSAND KILOMETRES away from Shanghai, in China's western hinterland, lies the prosperous city of Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan (formerly spelled Szechuan) province, with a population of 14 [...]

Motivation: Detailed empirical work on the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on food security is scant. Local management of food security has received little attention. Purpose: This article describes emergency food policies in Wuhan and Nanjing, China during lockdown in 2020 and their implications for household food security in the two cities. Methods and approach: Policy documents and background data describe the emergency measures. Online surveys of residents of two Chinese cities were used to gauge household food security. Findings: Despite the determined efforts of provincial and city governments to ensure that food reached people who were locked down in Wuhan, or subject to restrictions on movement in Nanjing, households experienced some decline in food security. Most households found they could not access their preferred foods. But a minority of households did not get enough to eat. Government had contingency plans for the pandemic that ensured that most people had sufficient, if not preferred, food. But not all households were fully covered. Policy implications: A more resilient system of food distribution is needed, including a relatively closed and independent home delivery system. Grassroots organizations such as residential community committees, property management organizations, and spontaneous volunteer groups need to be brought into the management of emergency food provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00492.x Byline: LE THI VAN HUE (1), STEFFANIE SCOTT (2) Keywords: Vietnam; economic reforms; land; mangroves; income inequality; social differentiation; privatisation; aquaculture; shrimp; environmental problems Abstract: Abstract This paper reviews the evolution of land use and mangrove forest management in a coastal commune in Central Vietnam from its early period of environmentally sound management under a common property regime, through State and cooperative management, to individual household allocation under the economic reforms of the 1990s. It analyses in particular the introduction of shrimp culture and its environmental and socioeconomic consequences. The case study demonstrates that, while opening up many economic opportunities, Vietnam's economic reforms have had uneven impacts on income inequality. Like many cases in Asia and Latin America, the disruption of common property resources - through the introduction of aquaculture as a livelihood opportunity and producer of an export crop - leaves farmers indebted and natural resources polluted. But, ironically, it was the financially better-off aquaculture farmers, who had more capacity for risk-taking and investing, who ended up most indebted, in comparison with poorer farmers who had already sold their ponds. The latter were less integrated into the market economy and relied more on marine product collection. This paper suggests that attention to local contexts and histories can contribute to a better understanding of the causes and consequences of environment-poverty interfaces. Author Affiliation: (1)Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam. (2)Department of Geography, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 1V5 Canada. Article History: Received 15 July 2006; Revised 29 November 2007; Accepted 30 November 2007 Article note: (*) Corresponding author. Email: sdscott@fesmail.uwaterloo.ca

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2007.03.006 Byline: Steffanie Scott (a), Truong Thi Kim Chuyen (b) Abstract: In this paper we map the predominant interpretations and characteristics of Vietnamese research on gender issues. Through a review of recent articles from the Vietnamese-language journal Women's Studies, we profile the main topics, intellectual influences, methods, and conceptual approaches of women's studies and gender research. The academic orientations that we identify in Vietnam are linked to the country's legacy of relative isolation. However, major economic reforms and an open door policy since the late 1980s have led to increased international exposure for Vietnamese researchers, and contributed to a diversification of research themes on women and gender issues. The paper ends by identifying some of the challenges for enhancing the profile and quality of Vietnamese scholarship on gender. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Geography, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 (b) Department of Geography, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Article Note: (footnote) [star] An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 'Gender and Socialism in Vietnam and China Conference', Australia National University, Canberra, Nov. 25-26, 2003. The authors would like to thank Eithne Luibheid, Dawn Currie, and Tran Thi Van Anh for constructive feedback, and Vu Hong Anh for research assistance. All errors remain the responsibility of the authors.