Search

An inclusive and socially legitimate governance structure is absent to address concerns over new agricultural biotechnologies. Establishing an agricultural bioethics commission devoted to inclusive deliberation on ethics and governance in agricultural and food biotechnology is urgent. Highlighting the social and ethical dimensions of current agricultural bioengineering disputes in the food system, we discuss how a nationally recognized policy forum could improve decision-making and increase public understanding of the issues. We clarify ways the concepts that are used to categorize food and frame governance of food affect consumer choices, and how dissemination of information and the mode of dissemination can contribute to social inequities. We cite the record of medically-oriented bioethic commissions and the history of international bioethic commissions in support of our argument, and end by discussing what such a commission dedicated to agriculture and food issues could reasonably be expected to achieve.

Abstract This special issue of GeoHealth, entitled Rhythms of the Earth: Ecological Calendars and Anticipating the Anthropogenic Climate Crisis, is a transdisciplinary articulation of a methodology of hope to confront the multiple injustices of the Anthropocene. One of the greatest challenges of the climate crisis is the lack of predictability at the scale of communities where impacts are most immediate. Indigenous and rural societies face an ever shifting “new normal” through increasing inconsistency in the seasonality of temperature and precipitation, as well as greater frequency of extreme weather events. With global food systems dependent on local and small producers, climatic variability disrupts access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally relevant food. Ecological calendars are context‐specific knowledge systems grounded in a particular cultural milieu and ecological space, that build anticipatory capacity for seasonal change. They measure and give meaning to time. Based on close observation of one's habitat, human societies have used such calendars for hundreds of years and potentially millennia. By engaging with the interactions among physical phenomena (such as the first snowfall or last frost) and biological events (such as blossoming of specific trees, arrival of migratory birds or mammals, appearance of plants or insects), human societies have been able to identify optimal time windows for their livelihood activities. The 11 research articles in Rhythms of the Earth cover a considerable geographical breadth from Africa to the Arctic; and, from North and South America to Central Asia. They provide evidence that spans millennia from the Roman Empire to the contemporary Anthropocene.

Information on the diversity of landraces is necessary to improve crops through selection or hybridization. This study was conducted to show the diversity of fenugreek landraces and associated traits. A total of 160 accessions including one local and four improved standard checks were evaluated in an augmented block design at the Haramaya University research site in 2016. Data collected include days to flowering, days to maturity, seed yield (kg/ha), thousand seed weight (g), the number of primary branches, plant height at flowering (cm), the number of pods per plant, the number of secondary branches, average pod length (cm), the number of seeds per pod, and seed yield per plant (g/plant) of quantitative traits. The analysis of variance revealed the existence of significant differences between accessions of all parameters. Genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation departed from 5.95–56.91% and 6.47–58.88%. Heritability in the broad sense and expected genetic gain as percent mean varied from 60.9 to 96.1% and from 2.5 to 70.3%. The seed yield per plant, the number of secondary branches, and the number of pod per plant had positive direct effects on the yield at both genotypic and phenotypic levels and the number of primary branches, and the average pod length via seed yield per plant, while the number of seeds per plant through the number of primary branches and the number of pods per plant had a positive indirect effect on the yield at the genotypic level, suggesting that these traits could be considered for indirect selection of genotypes for yield. The genetic distances of genotypes measured by Euclidean distance ranged from 0.07 to 10.6, and the dendrogram was constructed by using the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic mean. The presence of variability among fenugreek accessions suggested possibilities to improve the crop through the crossing of distant genotypes. This was an excellent opportunity to contribute to farmers’ food security and livelihoods by bringing about the improvement of fenugreek.

Collaboratively engaged research is shaped by dynamic power relationships among individuals, institutions and communities. Where some disciplines have explored the theoretical and methodological implications of power relations, the engagement movement writ large has suffered from a lack of explicit conceptual models and in-depth analyses of the role of power in the process of knowledge co-creation. Over the last 30 years, considerable attention has been paid to how resources and expertise within academic institutions can be brought to bear on the intractable social and economic problems of local communities. A necessary, yet under-theorised aspect of these dynamics is the extent to which the positionality and interpersonal relationships between actors impact the outcomes and durability of these processes. In this introductory article, we describe our effort to cultivate a conversation about power in engaged research. We organised an Author Collective for scholars and practitioners with a wide range of perspectives to expand our theoretical understanding of power’s role in university- community engagement. By reflecting on identities, approaches and experiences, the authors in this issue explore power as a vehicle for understanding the impact of positionality and interpersonal relationships on the process and outcomes of collaborative research.

Food sovereignty is understood as the right to determine food systems, and the ability to exercise this right requires the capacity to obtain, produce, and distribute culturally relevant foods. In the Standing Rock Nation of the northern Great Plains, efforts to reclaim food sovereignty include projects to increase the availability of gathered and gardened plants that are necessary components of traditional foods. Toward this objective, a voucher-based food assistance program administered by the Standing Rock Tribe is helping elders obtain culturally meaningful foods while contributing to the growth of farmers' markets within the reservation. As program enrollment and market attendance increase, organizers are considering the spatial arrangement of food system components and its influence on accessibility and participation. Our GIS spatial analysis of voucher issuance and redemption patterns reveals that the minimum cost-distance to market explains 33% of variance in voucher redemption. In order to improve program equity and efficiency, cost-distance models are used to identify potential additional market locations that would reduce the effort associated with trips to market and thus encourage participation. These analyses and possible spatial solutions contribute a powerful tool to improve food-system planning and to enhance the food sovereignty of indigenous communities in rural areas.