Laura German | The University of Georgia (original) (raw)
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Papers by Laura German
International Journal of the Commons, 2018
Journal of Arid Environments, 2017
International Forestry Review, 2011
The Journal of Peasant Studies, 2016
Ecological Economics, 2020
Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2021
This paper contributes to global debates on environmental governance by drawing on recent ontolog... more This paper contributes to global debates on environmental governance by drawing on recent ontological scholarship to ask: What would it mean to ontologically engage the concept of environmental governance? By examining the ontological underpinnings of three environmental governance domains (land, water, biodiversity), we find that dominant contemporary environmental governance concepts and policy instruments are grounded in a modernist ontology which actively shapes the world, making certain aspects and relationships visible while invisibilizing others. We then survey ethnographic and other literature to highlight how such categories and their relations have been conceived otherwise and the implications of breaking out of a modernist ontology for environmental governance. Lastly, we argue that answering our opening question requires confronting the coloniality woven into the environmental governance project and consider how to instead embrace ontological pluralism in practice. In pa...
Water, 2020
Freshwater is essential to human communities and stream ecosystems, and governments strive to man... more Freshwater is essential to human communities and stream ecosystems, and governments strive to manage water to meet the needs of both people and ecosystems. Balancing competing water demands is challenging, as freshwater resources are limited and their availability varies through time and space. One approach to maintain this balance is to legally mandate that a specified amount of stream flow be maintained for stream ecosystems, known as an environmental flow. But laws and regulations do not necessarily reflect what happens in practice, potentially to the detriment of communities and natural systems. Through a case study of Puerto Rico, we investigated whether water management in practice matches legislative mandates and explored potential mismatch drivers. We focused on two governance targets—equitable allocation and water use efficiency—and assessed whether they are enshrined in the law (de jure) and how they manifest in practice (de facto). We also explored agency accountability t...
ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY
High oil prices, recent commitments by industrialized countries to enhance the use of renewable e... more High oil prices, recent commitments by industrialized countries to enhance the use of renewable energy, and efforts by developing countries to stimulate foreign investment as a pathway to development have fueled high levels of interest in the biofuel sector throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Zambia is no exception. A large, land-locked country with high pump prices and vast tracts of land considered by many to be “degraded” or “underutilized,” investor interest in the sector has remained high despite uncertainties associated with unproven feedstocks and market fluctuations. While investment in multiple feedstock and production models may be observed, one of the primary investments has been in jatropha outgrower schemes in which small-scale farmers grow feedstock on contract with domestic and foreign investors. We assess the history and evolution of the largest such scheme in Zambia, as well as the social and environmental impacts in two districts with large numbers of outgrowers...
Ecology and Society, 2011
Scientific and lay conceptions shape recommendation domains, no less so for agroforestry than for... more Scientific and lay conceptions shape recommendation domains, no less so for agroforestry than for other areas of natural resource management. The belief that trees are by definition ecologically-benign and socially-neutral has led to the unqualified promotion of certain fast-growing and economically profitable tree species in the eastern African highlands. Yet ethnobotanical research in the eastern African highlands highlights a number of negative social and environmental impacts from trees. Following a brief introduction to the nature of these impacts, the chapter is dedicated to a discussion of approaches being developed under the umbrella of the African Highlands Initiative to make explicit and to manage the trade-offs inherent in species selection. It also highlights some promising avenues through which a more nuanced and sociallyinformed agroforestry may evolve.
World Development, 2020
Abstract Sustained interest by the business community in commercial agriculture in the global Sou... more Abstract Sustained interest by the business community in commercial agriculture in the global South has been welcomed for its potential to bring capital into long neglected rural areas, but has also raised concerns over implications for customary land rights and the terms of integration of local land and labor into global supply chains. In global development policy and discourse, the concept of “inclusive business” has become central in efforts to resolve these tensions, with the idea that integrating smallholders and other disadvantaged actors into partnerships with agribusiness firms can generate benefits for national economies, private investors, and local livelihoods. Scholarly treatment of the topic has tended to be polarized into win/lose narratives, or points to the contingency and social differentiation of localized experiences. This review paper takes a different approach, exploring published evidence on the structural factors shaping agricultural value chains and their implications for social inclusion. We develop a typology of seven agricultural value chains, and use this to select a sample of crops in specific world regions for an analysis of how structural factors in value chain relations - from crop features, to market dynamics and policy drivers – affect social inclusion (and exclusion). Such an approach allows us to ask whether inclusive agribusiness is a realistic goal given the broader structuring of agribusiness and the global economic system. Our study finds that while the characteristics of specific crops and supply chains exert a strong influence on opportunities and constraints to inclusion, the overall trend is towards more exclusive agribusiness as governments scale back support to smallholders, more stringent standards raise barriers to entry, and firms streamline operations to enhance competitiveness. This raises questions about the feasibility of this goal under the current political economic system. Findings point to the need to re-consider the policy choices behind these trends, and how we deploy the fiscal, legislative, and gate-keeper functions of the state to shape agrarian trajectories.
Regional Environmental Change, 2017
Science and Public Policy, 2018
We conducted a meta-synthesis of published qualitative articles to better understand how features... more We conducted a meta-synthesis of published qualitative articles to better understand how features and strategies of boundary organizations and spanning processes influence whether environmental science was utilized in politically oriented outcomes. Meta-synthesis is a peer-reviewed research technique which is becoming more prolific as disciplines compare qualitative research studies and generalize qualitative knowledge. In this work, thirty-nine published case studies were analysed through a systematic grounded theory approach and thirty-nine structured interviews were performed with authors to validate the results. Overall, forty-seven boundary spanning variables were evaluated using disaggregated statistics to determine correlation with policy outcomes. Our results develop the possibility that successful boundary spanning linkages may be less about utilizing formal boundary organizations and more about fostering the process through which science and policy are intermingled.
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2018
International Journal of the Commons, 2018
Journal of Arid Environments, 2017
International Forestry Review, 2011
The Journal of Peasant Studies, 2016
Ecological Economics, 2020
Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2021
This paper contributes to global debates on environmental governance by drawing on recent ontolog... more This paper contributes to global debates on environmental governance by drawing on recent ontological scholarship to ask: What would it mean to ontologically engage the concept of environmental governance? By examining the ontological underpinnings of three environmental governance domains (land, water, biodiversity), we find that dominant contemporary environmental governance concepts and policy instruments are grounded in a modernist ontology which actively shapes the world, making certain aspects and relationships visible while invisibilizing others. We then survey ethnographic and other literature to highlight how such categories and their relations have been conceived otherwise and the implications of breaking out of a modernist ontology for environmental governance. Lastly, we argue that answering our opening question requires confronting the coloniality woven into the environmental governance project and consider how to instead embrace ontological pluralism in practice. In pa...
Water, 2020
Freshwater is essential to human communities and stream ecosystems, and governments strive to man... more Freshwater is essential to human communities and stream ecosystems, and governments strive to manage water to meet the needs of both people and ecosystems. Balancing competing water demands is challenging, as freshwater resources are limited and their availability varies through time and space. One approach to maintain this balance is to legally mandate that a specified amount of stream flow be maintained for stream ecosystems, known as an environmental flow. But laws and regulations do not necessarily reflect what happens in practice, potentially to the detriment of communities and natural systems. Through a case study of Puerto Rico, we investigated whether water management in practice matches legislative mandates and explored potential mismatch drivers. We focused on two governance targets—equitable allocation and water use efficiency—and assessed whether they are enshrined in the law (de jure) and how they manifest in practice (de facto). We also explored agency accountability t...
ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY
High oil prices, recent commitments by industrialized countries to enhance the use of renewable e... more High oil prices, recent commitments by industrialized countries to enhance the use of renewable energy, and efforts by developing countries to stimulate foreign investment as a pathway to development have fueled high levels of interest in the biofuel sector throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Zambia is no exception. A large, land-locked country with high pump prices and vast tracts of land considered by many to be “degraded” or “underutilized,” investor interest in the sector has remained high despite uncertainties associated with unproven feedstocks and market fluctuations. While investment in multiple feedstock and production models may be observed, one of the primary investments has been in jatropha outgrower schemes in which small-scale farmers grow feedstock on contract with domestic and foreign investors. We assess the history and evolution of the largest such scheme in Zambia, as well as the social and environmental impacts in two districts with large numbers of outgrowers...
Ecology and Society, 2011
Scientific and lay conceptions shape recommendation domains, no less so for agroforestry than for... more Scientific and lay conceptions shape recommendation domains, no less so for agroforestry than for other areas of natural resource management. The belief that trees are by definition ecologically-benign and socially-neutral has led to the unqualified promotion of certain fast-growing and economically profitable tree species in the eastern African highlands. Yet ethnobotanical research in the eastern African highlands highlights a number of negative social and environmental impacts from trees. Following a brief introduction to the nature of these impacts, the chapter is dedicated to a discussion of approaches being developed under the umbrella of the African Highlands Initiative to make explicit and to manage the trade-offs inherent in species selection. It also highlights some promising avenues through which a more nuanced and sociallyinformed agroforestry may evolve.
World Development, 2020
Abstract Sustained interest by the business community in commercial agriculture in the global Sou... more Abstract Sustained interest by the business community in commercial agriculture in the global South has been welcomed for its potential to bring capital into long neglected rural areas, but has also raised concerns over implications for customary land rights and the terms of integration of local land and labor into global supply chains. In global development policy and discourse, the concept of “inclusive business” has become central in efforts to resolve these tensions, with the idea that integrating smallholders and other disadvantaged actors into partnerships with agribusiness firms can generate benefits for national economies, private investors, and local livelihoods. Scholarly treatment of the topic has tended to be polarized into win/lose narratives, or points to the contingency and social differentiation of localized experiences. This review paper takes a different approach, exploring published evidence on the structural factors shaping agricultural value chains and their implications for social inclusion. We develop a typology of seven agricultural value chains, and use this to select a sample of crops in specific world regions for an analysis of how structural factors in value chain relations - from crop features, to market dynamics and policy drivers – affect social inclusion (and exclusion). Such an approach allows us to ask whether inclusive agribusiness is a realistic goal given the broader structuring of agribusiness and the global economic system. Our study finds that while the characteristics of specific crops and supply chains exert a strong influence on opportunities and constraints to inclusion, the overall trend is towards more exclusive agribusiness as governments scale back support to smallholders, more stringent standards raise barriers to entry, and firms streamline operations to enhance competitiveness. This raises questions about the feasibility of this goal under the current political economic system. Findings point to the need to re-consider the policy choices behind these trends, and how we deploy the fiscal, legislative, and gate-keeper functions of the state to shape agrarian trajectories.
Regional Environmental Change, 2017
Science and Public Policy, 2018
We conducted a meta-synthesis of published qualitative articles to better understand how features... more We conducted a meta-synthesis of published qualitative articles to better understand how features and strategies of boundary organizations and spanning processes influence whether environmental science was utilized in politically oriented outcomes. Meta-synthesis is a peer-reviewed research technique which is becoming more prolific as disciplines compare qualitative research studies and generalize qualitative knowledge. In this work, thirty-nine published case studies were analysed through a systematic grounded theory approach and thirty-nine structured interviews were performed with authors to validate the results. Overall, forty-seven boundary spanning variables were evaluated using disaggregated statistics to determine correlation with policy outcomes. Our results develop the possibility that successful boundary spanning linkages may be less about utilizing formal boundary organizations and more about fostering the process through which science and policy are intermingled.
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2018
Agriculture and Human Values, 2015
QA Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, 2013
Rapid growth of emerging economies, growing interest in biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuel... more Rapid growth of emerging economies, growing interest in biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels and recent volatility in commodity prices have led to a marked increase in the pace and scale of foreign and national investment in land-based enterprises in the global South. Emerging evidence of the negative social and environmental effects of these large-scale land transfers and growing concern from civil society have placed ‘global land grabs’ firmly on the map of global land-use change and public discourse. Yet what are the processes involved in these large-scale land transfers? Based on a review of policy documents, interviews with government officials from diverse sectors and discussions with customary leaders and affected communities, this paper provides a comparative analysis of legal and institutional frameworks and actual practices associated with large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. Results suggest that in many cases it is not a global ‘l...
Recent years have witnessed the growing diplomatic and economic presence of China in Africa. From... more Recent years have witnessed the growing diplomatic and economic presence of China in Africa. From the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and state policies designed to strengthen diplomatic, cultural and economic relations with African nations, to the rapid growth in Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) and bilateral trade, this relationship is likely to continue playing a defining role in African economies. These trends present important opportunities for African nations who see this relationship as an opportunity to catalyse much needed investments in infrastructure and industry, and to stimulate job creation and exports. At the same time, however, it has raised concerns with civil society and traditional development partners alike – who question whether the lack of transparency or conditionality in lending will undermine long-term development through increased indebtedness, imported labour, competition with African goods or through resource depletion or by ...
ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Many traditional pastoralist societies in Africa are facing ... more ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Many traditional pastoralist societies in Africa are facing new and daunting challenges to sustain their production systems in the face of changes in land use and climate. Livelihood diversification offers a range of potentially valuable strategies to adapt to emerging conditions. However, newly adopted strategies may instead exacerbate vulnerability if (a) modes of diversification increase ecological sensitivity to disturbances such as drought, (b) adopting new strategies increases households’ risk exposure, or (c) existing and evolving social institutions do not foster effective coping strategies in the context of novel production systems. We examine dimensions of ecological sensitivity, risk exposure, and coping ability associated with the new advent of maize agriculture in a Laikipia Maasai pastoralist community in north-central Kenya. In 2011, hundreds of community members began to establish small, individualized farm plots for river-irrigated maize production. Two years later, less than one-third of those continued to farm. Results/Conclusions The ecological consequences of farming, then land abandonment, showed the unexpected effect of stimulating perennial grass recovery and creating a new riverine matrix of highly productive grass patches and fewer farms. We developed a dynamic agent-based hillslope model to explore the impacts of grazing pressure and rainfall variability on the mosaic landscape’s function and productivity. Surveys of risk perceptions revealed that former farmers had underestimated the costs and risks of attempting to diversify through farming. Farmers and former farmers identified mainly economic and social assets that they associated with coping ability to continue farming, while few mentioned agricultural practices. At the institutional level we identified enabling factors such as flexible governance, as well as potential barriers to adaptation, such as no integration of grazing and farming land use rules. We evaluate our findings to better understand the conditions and factors that influence success or exacerbated vulnerability in the course of endeavors toward land use diversification.
While excitement around biofuels initially focused on finding a clean and secure alternative to f... more While excitement around biofuels initially focused on finding a clean and secure alternative to fossil fuels, many other expectations have subsequently been attached to the " biofuel boom. " Biofuels are not only expected to mitigate climate change or foster domestic energy security, but also to generate employment, provide opportunities to smallholders and support decentralized energy systems. This paper interrogates the expectations attached to biofuels. We begin by examining how policies in consumer and producer countries articulate a series of expectations for biofuels that are " bundled " with the promise of cleaner energy, using the rationales behind these expectations to derive criteria for success. We then review evidence from the published literature on biofuel outcomes against these criteria to assess whether the most prevalent assumptions have been met. We find that policy expectations for biofuels are often expressed in narrow terms, failing to capture important potential impacts – for example focusing on new jobs in the formal sector rather than job quality or whether employment offsets livelihood costs associated with biofuel investments. Some expectations have proven elusive irrespective of the metrics employed, for example using biofuels to improve energy access in remote rural areas. The paper concludes by discussing implications for policy and practice.
World Development, 2020
Sustained interest by the business community in commercial agriculture in the global South has be... more Sustained interest by the business community in commercial agriculture in the global South has been welcomed for its potential to bring capital into long neglected rural areas, but has also raised concerns over implications for customary land rights and the terms of integration of local land and labor into global supply chains. In global development policy and discourse, the concept of ‘‘inclusive business” has become central in efforts to resolve these tensions, with the idea that integrating smallholders and other disadvantaged actors into partnerships with agribusiness firms can generate benefits for national econo- mies, private investors, and local livelihoods. Scholarly treatment of the topic has tended to be polarized into win/lose narratives, or points to the contingency and social differentiation of localized experiences. This review paper takes a different approach, exploring published evidence on the structural factors shap- ing agricultural value chains and their implications for social inclusion. We develop a typology of seven agricultural value chains, and use this to select a sample of crops in specific world regions for an analysis of how structural factors in value chain relations - from crop features, to market dynamics and policy dri- vers – affect social inclusion (and exclusion). Such an approach allows us to ask whether inclusive agribusiness is a realistic goal given the broader structuring of agribusiness and the global economic sys- tem. Our study finds that while the characteristics of specific crops and supply chains exert a strong influ- ence on opportunities and constraints to inclusion, the overall trend is towards more exclusive agribusiness as governments scale back support to smallholders, more stringent standards raise barriers to entry, and firms streamline operations to enhance competitiveness. This raises questions about the feasibility of this goal under the current political economic system. Findings point to the need to re- consider the policy choices behind these trends, and how we deploy the fiscal, legislative, and gate- keeper functions of the state to shape agrarian trajectories.
Journal of Agrarian Change
![Research paper thumbnail of Impacts and trade-offs of large-scale land acquisitions: Challenges and opportunities for multi-level governance [DRAFT]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/71421148/thumbnails/1.jpg)
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