Received: from ATHENA-AS-WELL.MIT.EDU by po7.MIT.EDU (5.61/4.7) id AA02560; Mon, 31 Jan 94 20:22:42 EST Received: from auvm.american.edu by MIT.EDU with SMTP id AA20855; Mon, 31 Jan 94 20:22:34 EST Message-Id: <9402010122.AA20855@MIT.EDU> Received: from AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 6978; Mon, 31 Jan 94 20:19:15 EST Received: from AMERICAN.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@AUVM) by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 6421; Mon, 31 Jan 1994 20:18:42 -0500 Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 20:17:00 EST Reply-To: Volunteers in Technical Assistance Sender: Technology Transfer in International Development From: Volunteers in Technical Assistance Subject: Your DevelopNet News for February. To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @@@@@ @@@@@@ @@ @@ @@@@@@ @@ @@@@@ @@@@@@ @@ @@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@ @@@@@@ @@ @@ @@@@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@ @@ @@@ @@ @@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@ @@@@@@ @@ @@@@@@ @@@@@@ @@@@@ @@ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @@ @@ @@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@ On-Line News and Views on @@@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@ @@@@@@@ @@ Technology Transfer in @@ @@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@ @@ International Development %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% @@@@@ @@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@ @@ @@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@ @@@@@@ @@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% February 1994 Volume 4, No. 2 IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL Integrating Conservation and Development LITERATURE REVIEWS Monitoring World HIV Global Water Scarcity ORGANIZATIONS Sustainable Health Care VITA PROJECTS Agricultural Rehabilitation in Afghanistan ANNOUNCEMENTS Soil Degradation and Conservation in the Tropics Conservation Biology and Wildlife Management * * * DevelopNet News is published monthly by Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) in Arlington, Virginia, USA. For additional information, please see the end of this newsletter. * * * E d i t o r i a l INTEGRATING CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT Exploitation of the natural environment often leads to disaster for growing human populations, especially in the Third World. Can this be understood and prevented? Can there be long-term "environmentally friendly" use of natural resources that is financially profitable at the same time? When humans overexploit their natural environment, whether soils, for ests, or fisheries, the environment often cannot regain its usefulness to them. Then, the human community may not be able to meet its needs. Thousands of tragic case histories have been reported from all regions of the globe. And yet, many of the world's environmental systems have survived. But some are so damaged that humans must try to repair them; others are damaged beyond repair. And, sadly, our practical knowledge of how to repair the natural environment is very incomplete. What causes environmental damage? When people are the cause, the culprit is usually productive or commercial activity: cultivating, mining, har vesting, transporting, and so on. Too often, the activities have been carried on without regard for the robustness of the environment that supports them. Some traditional cultures recognized the importance of environmental conservation. But even when this was true, population growth and the lure of commercial profit often influenced the environ ment more than traditional beliefs. When human communities could no longer depend on the resources of their environment for food, shelter, and other necessities, they came to depend on government handouts. Otherwise, they were forced to exploit the surviving natural resources even faster than before, just to stay alive. The idea of "biodiversity" helps to understand just what happens to an environmental system that is under attack. Biodiversity expresses the idea that an environmental system includes, and depends on, a huge vari ety of plant and animal populations that live in it and interact in com plex ways. If the population of even one species in the system is greatly reduced or wiped out, the entire system may disappear or be forced to change. Recovery may take years or even centuries. When a species becomes extinct, that is a danger signal that may have come too late. Some of the highest rates of species extinction are found in economically poor areas of the world; for example, Southeast Africa, including Madagascar. In many cases, species have become extinct because humans have not valued biodiversity. The wealthier and more powerful individuals can often afford to make choices to save the environment, but usually do not. The poorer people cannot afford to choose. Can education and technology transfer establish a link between conserva tion and income production? The trick is for human communities to change their patterns of economic activity in directions that are friendly to biodiversity. In practical terms, this involves creating new jobs. The new jobs need not be directly related to resource use, but there must be markets for what is produced. If we do not create new jobs and new mar kets in ways that result in resources conservation, the result will be mass unemployment. Consider that between 1990 and 2000, 1,200 million people (now already born and growing up) will enter the job market. If new jobs are not created, the result will be mass unemployment and wide spread social and political unrest. Thus, conservation and economic development must be complementary objec tives. In many cases, what is needed is an agricultural, trading, or manufacturing enterprise that generates cash and is environmentally friendly. But this is not enough; many other conditions are needed. These include tenure and resources, social systems that encourage a long-term view, sustainable harvesting methods, effective production strategies, and population control. Here are some examples. In Papua New Guinea, a pilot project in timber processing reduces logging damage and promotes selective cutting. An international pharmaceutical manufacturer is working with traditional healers in the rainforests of Costa Rica to identify medicinal plants and pay the local people for their expert knowledge of them*. In Brazil, a community-based nut-processing factory has been launched in a project that also markets rainforest products. We know too little about the possible results of different approaches to resource management. For this reason, some experts urge caution lest such efforts also degrade the environment in subtle ways. Christine Padoch (Brooklyn Botanic Garden) says, "A lot of the discussion of mar keting efforts suggests that we can sell [the product] and save it at the same time and save the people too. . . . I wish that were true, but if you look at the history of these products, its horrifying. Very few people, or forests, have benefitted." On the other hand, resource econ omists point to the apparent success of many projects. Some critics say that reforms in public policy are more urgent than enterprise develop ment. But policy reform sometimes comes about as the result of conservation-based enterprises. The sense of urgency is acute, for time is running out. Diversity is being lost even as people argue about the merits of the "sustainable development option." Existing conservation strategies are failing to stem the tide of biodiversity loss in many parts of the globe. They are failing because traditional resources management systems are not com patible with "modern" market economies. Management systems can't adjust without much better understanding of the scientific, economic, and social issues involved. Conservation-based economic development is not a panacea. It is just one strategy to us along with existing conservation strategies, policy reform, regulation, and international treaties. Nevertheless, working examples are needed that show how conservation of biodiversity and econ omic development can be mutually supportive goals. These examples will attract additional investments in this important area. *Editor's note: For details of this and similar arrangements for "chem ical prospecting," see Thomas Eisner and Elizabeth A. Beiring, 1994. "Biotic Exploration Fund -- Protecting Biodiversity Through Chemical Prospecting," BioScience, vol. 44, no. 2 (February), pp. 95 - 98. Source: Based on a paper by David C. Richards, who was consultant for the World Wildlife Fund and, more recently, a VITA consultant. L i t e r a t u r e R e v i e w s MONITORING WORLD HIV By July 1993, over 2 million adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) had developed acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); most of them have died. In some African cities, a third of adults are infected and up to 80% of adult hospital beds are occupied by AIDS patients. Michael H. Merson (World Health Organization, Geneva) says, "How to provide and pay for their care is a growing dilemma. But these direct costs are dwarfed by the pandemic's colossal indirect costs in lost income and decreased workforce output as millions of people in society's most productive age group fall sick and die." Worldwide, 13 million young people and adults have become infected, the majority through heterosexual intercourse. The risk of infection rises drastic ally (10- to 100-fold for a single act of intercourse) if syphilis or other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are present. The reasons for this linkage are not yet clear. Infections are rising in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, eastern Europe, and central Asia, but today the steepest increases are in South and Southeast Asia, especially Thailand and Myanmar. Which techologies are likely to control HIV infection? Searches for an effective vaccine continue in international research centers. It now seems that vaccination can supplement, but not replace, other control measures. WHO's prevention agenda for the the 1990s and beyond calls for convincing and enabling people "to avoid risky sexual behavior and to ensure that they are treated promptly and effectively for conventional STDs." Merson, who runs WHO's global HIV program, says, "The cost, in terms of personal suffering, family disruption, and impact on the community, has been horrific." But is the outlook entirely bleak? In fact, there is room for optimism based on a decade of experience. The good news: "Sex ual behavior change is an achievable goal. There is growing evidence that people from a striking diversity of cultures, on different conti nents, have managed to adopt safer behavior, including having fewer sex partners, choosing nonpenetrative forms of sex, and, the best documented change, using condoms." As another advance, the key importance of women in shaping HIV policy is now recognized. It is now understood that wherever women are culturally and economically subordinate to men and cannot control or even readily negotiate safe sex, "this fact needs to dictate our preventive approaches . . . The best short-term strategem would be the use of a safe and effective barrier to HIV transmission that women could control and apply, if necessary, without their partner's knowledge." As is true for contraception, "women will always need an array of HIV barrier meth ods to choose from." Moreover, STD care, particularly if linked to AIDS prevention, needs to be "lifted out of its traditional coercive content," since many STD clinics humiliate or act condescendingly toward patients, instead of providing sympathetic care that would encourage people to seek early diagnosis and care." What is the annual cost of a basic, global, prevention package? WHO's answer is $1.5 to $2.9 billion, compared with $120 million now being spent in developing countries. Helping to mobilize the needed resources is a major challenge for doctors, research workers, and health activists in all countries. The benefits include avoidance of millions of deaths and disrupted lives in the decades to come. The benefits would begin to appear around the year 2010. Michael H. Merson, 1993. "Slowing the Spread of HIV: Agenda for the 1990s." Science, vol. 260 (28 May), p. 1266-1268. GLOBAL WATER SCARCITY By 2025, the number of people living in water-short countries will nudge the 3,000 million mark, up from 335 million in 1990, according to a new report from Population Action International (PAI). Since snow and rain fall are relatively constant, renewable water is essentially finite. Many countries are drawing down groundwater supplies -- and new water sources, such as from icebergs or desalination, are too costly to offer a solution, according to the report. Some governments are only dimly aware of what's happening, said PAI's Joseph Speidel at a press confer ence last week, and they "are not distinguishing between renewable and nonrenewable water in their longterm planning." In Israel, high on the list of water-scarce nations, there is talk of phasing down agriculture and raising food imports to make enough water available for urban residents. So far, efforts to improve water supplies are being nullified by popula tion growth, said California-based water consultant Peter Gleick. During the 1980s, declared by the United Nations to be the Decade for Clean Drinking Water, 750 million people without sanitation services got such services. But during that time, 750 million new people were added to the planet. Source: Science, vol. 262, page 987 (12 November 1993); text reproduced with kind permission of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, copyright holder. O r g a n i z a t i o n s SUSTAINABLE HEALTH CARE International Medical Services for Health (INMED) is a nonprofit organi zation whose mission is to improve access to sustainable, effective health care for disadvantaged people worldwide. To achieve this objec tive, INMED carries out programs in education, information and commu nication, as well as medicine, public health, nutrition. It also pro vides material aid in an effort to build sustainable systems of supply for essential medicines and basic health supplies. To carry out its mis sion, INMED forms partnerships with local and international nongovern mental organizations, industry, governments, universities, and founda tions. It has programs in the Caribbean; Central, South, and North Amer ica; the Middle East; the Pacific; South and South East Asia; and sub- Saharan Africa. Information: International Medical Services for Health, 45449 Severn Way, Suite 161, Sterling, Virginia 20166; telephone: +1 (703) 444-4477; fax: +1 (703) 444-4471; Telex: 910-2500-120. V I T A P r o j e c t s AGRICULTURAL REHABILITATION IN AFGHANISTAN On 31 December 1993, VITA ended its cross-border agricultural rehabili tation project in Afghanistan. The project, which began in 1987, worked to restore Afghanistan's agricultural infrastructure -- irrigation sys tems, rural roads, and bridges -- badly damaged by a dozen years of war and forced neglect. It operated in 18 of Afghanistan's 29 provinces, employing more than 450 Afghans in Pakistan and Afghanistan at its peak. All in all, the project cleaned and repaired 762 surface canals (juis) allowing the successful irrigation of 340,000 hectares of land and ben efitting some 300,000 families. Project staff also cleaned and repaired about 2,900 traditional underground irrigation tunnels (karezes) thus improving or restoring another 116,000 hectares of farm land. The rehab ilitation of these irrigation devices improved the production of wheat and other crops and benefitted about 473,000 families that derive their food and income from the irrigated land. "The improvement of irrigation, along with increased supplies of good seed and fertilizer, not only helped these people on the land, but also encouraged refugees in Pakistan to return to Afghanistan and take up their own farms again," says Bob MacMakin, VITA's Deputy Chief of Party for the project. Project reports tell of areas in Afghanistan's Konar province that had been deserted and barren of crops five years earlier that are now green with wheat and bustling with the activity of farmers and their families. Besides the irrigation projects, VITA helped rehabilitate 28 roads and built 14 new roads. These were farm-to-market roads that had been hard hit by the years of war. In conjunction with the road projects, there were 32 bridges repaired, or designed and built entirely. The total length of the roads thus put into service to help farmers get their crops to market and get necessary materials for their farms was about 1,080 kilometers and benefitted nearly 250,000 families. A highly important contribution of the project was the training of more than 450 Afghan staff members (both VITA's and those of other nongov ernmental organizations). The project developed a core group of rural development professionals, who will be available to aid in Afghanistan's further rehabilitation. Thus, although the VITA project was officially closed because of shifts in U.S. government priorities that ended fund ing for the humanitarian assistance program there, its impact will be felt for a long time to come. Information: Mohammad Shah, VITA A n n o u n c e m e n t s SOIL DEGRADATION AND CONSERVATION IN THE TROPICS A course with this title will be held in Stuttgart, Germany, from 29 August to 16 September 1994. It aims to further the awareness of the importance of soil conservation and provide researchers with an oppor tunity to get abreast of recent research on the subject. It will also aim to stimulate further research and foster information exchange arrangements between laboratories in developing and industrialized countries. Participants will discuss the principles of soil degradation with main emphasis on the possibilities and benefits of soil conservation for agricultural production in the tropics. They will also learn about recent development and research results on the soico-economic context of erosion, soil erosion, and policy formulation, soil degradation proces ses, quantification of erosion through simulation models, soil degrada tion monitoring using geographic information systems, soil conservation strategies in different cropping systems, and the role of tillage and fertility management in controlling soil degradation. Participants are expected to be involved in ongoing soil conservation research projects that they can present. They should have a minimum of an M.Sc. or equivalent in agriculture or a related field. Since the course will be taught in English, a good command of the language is needed. The University of Hohenheim is offering the course in cooperation with a network of European agricultural universities and scientific complexes. Information: The Course Coordinator, Centre for Agriculture in the Trop ics and Subtropics (790), University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Ger many; tel. +49 (0711) 459-3742; fax +49 (0711) 459-3315; telex 722-959. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT The National Zoological Park, part of the Smithsonian Institution (Wash ington, D.C.), has for many years offered nationals of developing coun tries training in the conservation of biological diversity and wildlife management. The training is provided to groups of 15 to 20 persons during courses of five to ten weeks duration. The courses are held in the United States and overseas, and conducted in a language shared by the program's instructors and the trainees. The courses include a one-week orientation period, followed by lectures, seminars, workshops and field training. During orientation, trainees become familiar with a variety of biodiversity, conservation, and sus tainable development issues. They are also trained in the use of com puters and different types of field equipment. During the training per iod lectures are given concurrently with field training and seminars and workshops are conducted on such special topics protected areas manage ment, wetlands management, captive wildlife management and environmental education. The lectures provide the conceptual framework for the field training. They also assist trainees to collect, analyze, and interpret data on the habitat, demography and socioecology of wildlife species. Trainees use this knowledge to develop field projects which are conduc ted by individuals or small groups during each training course. Overseas courses focus on and help resolve local wildlife problems through personnel training and the development of appropriate field projects. Short-term courses are repeated annually in some countries in order to monitor the progress of field projects, train more people, and transfer new technology. The program also provides various forms of long-term career development support to its course alumni, including assistance in seeking university admission in the United States, support for graduate studies and field projects, and training of course instruc tors. Those who are trained as instructors may become faculty members of centers for wildlife research and training that the program hopes to establish in selected developing countries. In 1994, courses will be conducted in the United States, Malaysia and China. The U.S. course will be held from early June to mid-July 1994; in Malaysia from late July to early September; and in China from mid- September to early November. In-service personnel of government wildlife agencies and postgraduates, graduates, and undergraduates affiliated with universities or nongovern mental organizations are eligible for training. Participants are selec ted on the basis of merit and need. Information: Rasanayagam Rudran, Department of Conservation, National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. 20008-2598; tel. + 1 (202) 673-4826; fax +1 (202) 673-4686; e-mail . * * * HOW TO JOIN VITA'S ELECTRONIC FORUM VITA's free, public, online discussion forum, DEVEL-L, provides for the exchange of ideas and information on a wide range of issues and topics related to technology transfer in international development; for exam- ple, technologies, communications in development, sustainable agricul- ture, women in development, the environment, small enterprise develop- ment, meetings, and book reviews. 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Kindly send us a message on the approximate size of your mailing list; it will be helpful in our planning. President: Henry R. Norman Acting Editor: Vicki Tsiliopoulos Editorial Assistant: Rafe Ronkin, VITA Volunteer VITA specializes in information dissemination and communications tech- nology. It offers services related to sustainable agriculture, food processing, renewable energy applications, water sanitation and supply, small enterprise development, and information management. It has long- and short-term projects in 10 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. VITA's publications, on a variety of practical subjects, are designed to assist persons and organizations in developing countries. You can request a descriptive publications list by postal mail, phone, or fax. Be sure to include your postal address. Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA), 1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 500, Arlington, Virginia 22209. 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