The Mobile Street Food Service Practice in the Urban Economy of Kumba, Cameroon     

Cletus Acho-Chi 《Singapore journal of tropical geography》2002,23(2):131-148

The mobile food service practice is one of multiple survival strategies adopted by poor urban households in Cameroon to maintain and expand the base of subsistence incomes, especially in the current surge of economic crisis. Though a fast-growing informal sector enterprise, it is still at an artisanal stage in urban Cameroon, creating an urgent need for a supportive policy environment that could have measurable positive impacts on improving the productivity, welfare and income levels of the micro-entrepreneurs. This study looks at the mobile food service practice in Kumba, Cameroon, in terms of its basic characteristics, the locational factors influencing its socio-spatial distribution, the critical success factors (CSFs) determining customer choices, and its impacts on the local environmental resources and quality of urban life. The mobile food service practice creates employment, generates income, and acts as a food energy-support instrument to the urban poor and local economic activities operating in Kumba. The vendors, who are mostly women, can make incomes that are 405 per cent of the national minimum wage and, thus, contribute financially towards the education, health and survival of their families. The paper provides some recommendations on ways to improve the efficiency of this sector so as to achieve sustainable economic and social development and to enhance empowerment thereof.  相似文献   

Virtual vegetables and adopted sheep: ethical relation, authenticity and Internet-mediated food production technologies   总被引：2，自引：1，他引：2  

Lewis Holloway 《Area》2002,34(1):70-81

Associating ideas related to cultural geographies of 'quality' food production and consumption with recent discussion of Internet technologies, virtuality and simulation, this paper examines two newly constituted Internet enterprises offering customers 'virtual' experiences of food production, and 'quality' food products in which they have invested. The paper shows how these enterprises are associated with particular types of geographical and ethical relation, and a search for 'authentic', connected, relationships with food, farming, locality and 'nature'. These relationships are constituted in an assemblage of things held together by flows of food, products, money and electronic communication. The paper ends by suggesting a number of theoretical ideas that might usefully be explored in empirical research into Internet-mediated food production.  相似文献   

Ethanol Fuels: Energy Balance, Economics, and Environmental Impacts Are Negative   总被引：13，自引：0，他引：13  

David Pimentel 《Natural Resources Research》2003,12(2):127-134

Several studies suggest that the $1.4 billion in government subsidies are encouraging the ethanol program without substantial benefits to the U.S. economy. Large ethanol industries and a few U.S. government agencies, such as the USDA, support the production of ethanol. Corn-farmers receive minimal profits. In the U.S. ethanol system, considerably more energy, including high-grade fossil fuel, is required to produce ethanol than is available in the energy-ethanol output. Specifically about 29% more energy is used to produce a gallon of ethanol than the energy in a gallon of ethanol. Fossil energy powers corn production and the fermentation/distillation processes. Increasing subsidized ethanol production will take more feed from livestock production, and is estimated to currently cost consumers an additional $1 billion per year. Ethanol production increases environmental degradation. Corn production causes more total soil erosion than any other crop. Also, corn production uses more insecticides, herbicides, and nitrogen fertilizers than any other crop. All these factors degrade the agricultural and natural environment and contribute to water pollution and air pollution. Increasing the cost of food and diverting human food resources to the costly inefficient production of ethanol fuel raise major ethical questions. These occur at a time when more than half of the world's population is malnourished. The ethical priority for corn and other food crops should be for food and feed. Subsidized ethanol produced from U.S. corn is not a renewable energy source.  相似文献   

合肥市耕地和粮食可持续发展研究   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4  

沈德福  吕成文 《地域研究与开发》2003,22(5):50-53

收集1980～1999年合肥市耕地、人口、粮食等资料，定量分析在城市化快速发展下耕地的数量、质量变化和耕地减少的形式以及人口、粮食的变化，并用回归法分析它们的变化趋势。研究认为，在2005，2010年合肥市食物保障能力分别为97％和95％，对粮食生产与其影响因素进行了灰色关联分析，提出提高粮食产量的对策和实现途径。  相似文献   

南极考察站废弃物对贼鸥食性的影响          下载免费PDF全文

王自磐 《极地研究》2003,15(3):177-185

对南极乔治王岛菲尔德斯半岛贼鸥的食性生态进行观测与研究 ,结果表明 ,本区贼鸥的食物结构中 ,自然生态类食物百分组成 ,棕贼鸥 (C .s.lonnbergi)占 63.4% ,灰贼鸥 (C .maccormic ki)占 77.8%。同期 ,取自考察站的人类废弃物中垃圾食物的百分组成分别为 36.6%和 2 2 .3%。贼鸥食性对考察站废弃物有一定的依赖性 ,与本区环境质量下降 ,尤其考察站对废弃物的疏于管理有着直接的关系。由此表明 ,强化南极考察人员环境意识 ,建立封闭式废弃物管理系统 ,对保护南极环境有重要意义  相似文献   

A FOOD GEOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT PLAINS     

BARBARA G. SHORTRIDGE 《Geographical review》2003,93(4):507-529

ABSTRACT. This article explores the regional identity of the Great Plains through its foodways using 744 responses from a mailed survey that asked participants to plan a representative menu for their locale. The strongest association is with beef—not surprising in an area known for cattle ranching. Other commonalities include potatoes, beans, and corn. Differentiation within the region is marked by preparation methods for beef as well as emphases on cornbread and peach cobbler in the south, rhubarb pie in the north, tortillas and sopapillas in the southwest, and pickles in two separate clusterings.  相似文献   

巴东长江公路大桥桥位边坡稳定可靠性研究     

丛培夫  杨志波 《世界地质》2003,22(3):303-308

以巴东长江公路大桥桥位边坡为例，在前人稳定性评价的基础上，建立了基于剩余推力法和Sarma法的边坡稳定可靠性分析模型，分析表明边坡系统可靠性指标(β，Pf)能更准确地表达边坡稳定性、安全性和工程风险水平。  相似文献   

哈尔滨市地下水开采安全警戒量的研究   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

朱雪芹  文丽杰  孟庆国 《水文》2003,23(3):37-39,33

明确了地下水开采安全警戒量的概念，建立了哈尔滨市地下水开采安全警戒量评价指标体系。以地下水过量开采所带来的环境负效应作为评价指标，对这些环境指标进行了量化分级、加权。运用GIS空间叠加手段，建立了研究区每个栅格的地下水开采安全警戒量评价体系，求出了哈尔滨市地下水开采安全警戒量。  相似文献   

Modelling the effects of temperature and food on individual growth and reproduction of Daphnia and their consequences on the population level     

Karsten Rinke  Thomas Petzoldt 《Limnologica》2003,33(4):293-304

Individual based simulations of population dynamics require the availability of growth models with adequate complexity. For this purpose a simple-to-use model (non-linear multiple regression approach) is presented describing somatic growth and reproduction of Daphnia as a function of time, temperature and food quantity. The model showed a good agreement with published observations of somatic growth (r² = 0.954, n = 88) and egg production (r² = 0.898, n = 35). Temperature is the main determinant of initial somatic growth and food concentration is the main determinant of maximal body length and clutch size. An individual based simulation was used to demonstrate the simultaneous effects of food and temperature on the population level. Evidently, both temperature and food supply affected the population growth rate but at food concentrations above approximately 0.4 mg Cl⁻¹ Scenedesmus acutus temperature appeared as the main determinant of population growth.

Four simulation examples are given to show the wide applicability of the model: (1) analysis of the correlation between population birth rate and somatic growth rate, (2) contribution of egg development time and delayed somatic growth to temperature-effects on population growth, (3) comparison of population birth rate in simulations with constant vs. decreasing size at maturity with declining food concentrations and (4) costs of diel vertical migration. Due to its plausible behaviour over a broad range of temperature (2–20 °C) and food conditions (0.1–4 mg Cl⁻¹) the model can be used as a module for more detailed simulations of Daphnia population dynamics under realistic environmental conditions.  相似文献   

横山水库除险加固工程的安全论证——土工膜与结构面摩擦试验     

王琦  臧光文 《岩土力学》2003,(Z1)

土工膜是工程防渗处理的一种主要材料[1]。斜坡面上土工膜与结构面的抗滑稳定直接影响到工程的安全运行。摩擦试验模拟了现场施工和运行情况,得到土工膜与结构面的抗滑剪力和摩擦系数,对工程的安全进行了论证。  相似文献