Seeking common ground for people: Livelihoods, governance and waste

Jam Chakro is a large International Donor-funded landfill site in Karachi, when opened in 1996 it was intended to be carefully managed by the Karachi municipal authorities. However, within weeks of opening it was overtaken by informal-sector waste workers. They are mostly poor rural migrants who have gravitated towards urban areas seeking work. Their waste sorting and recycling work, which involves burning waste, is now responsible for serious environmental degradation and poor waste management.Nearby residents are being affected by the smoke, and wish to see an end to the burning. Local authorities are under pressure to manage the waste better and wish to see an end to the recycling activities. However, initial attempts to stop these activities and relocate people, sometimes involving force, have been unsuccessful. The workers complain that they depend on the waste work for their survival.This paper is concerned with the problems caused by the informal-sector recycling work at Jam Chakro, and the need for finding environmentally and financially sustainable solutions which respect the interests of all stakeholders. It is based on fieldwork which involved detailed stakeholder identification and consultation, to ensure that different perspectives were heard and accounted for. In the light of research findings, the paper discusses some of the proposed options for integrating informal-sector livelihoods into the formal operation of the landfill site. These are based around organising waste reclamation and recycling work and enabling it to take place without burning waste.The paper proposes that the problems at Jam Chakro can in part be attributed to not having accounted for the poor in planning, necessary for developing sustainable solutions to the problems.Approximate exchange-rate at time of writing: US$1: Rs. 60.     

Overcoming Market Constraints on Pro‐Poor Agricultural Growth in Sub‐Saharan Africa

In sub‐Saharan Africa, there is fairly broad agreement that increased investment in key public goods such as roads and communications infrastructure, agricultural research and water control will be required if revitalised agricultural development is to take place. However, it has proved more difficult to reach agreement on what needs to be done to improve the performance of agricultural markets. In this article we set out an agenda for investment and policy reform in this area, providing a brief theoretical examination of the co‐ordination problems involved before examining in turn demand and supply constraints affecting smallholder farmers, and policies for price stabilisation and the co‐ordination of support services. We also argue that increased attention needs to be paid to governance issues.     

Intended Message Versus Message Received in Hypothetical Physician Risk Communications: Exploring the Gap

We examined the risk perception that is derived from hypothetical physician risk communications. Subjects (n= 217) completed a questionnaire on the Web for $3. Subjects were presented with four hypothetical cancer risk scenarios that included a physician risk communication in one of three risk communication formats: verbal only, verbal plus numeric probability as a percent, and verbal plus numeric probability as a fraction. In each scenario, subjects were asked to imagine themselves as the patient described and to state their perceived personal susceptibility to the cancer (i.e., risk perception) on a 0 to 100 scale, as well as responses to other measures. Subjects' risk perceptions were highly variable, spanning nearly the entire probability scale for each scenario, and the degree of variation was only slightly less in the risk communication formats in which a numeric statement of risk was provided. Subjects were more likely to overestimate than underestimate their risk relative to the stated risk in the numeric versions, and overestimation was associated with the belief that the physician minimized the risk so they wouldn't worry, innumeracy, and worry, as well as decisions about testing for the cancer. These results demonstrate significant gaps between the intended message and the message received in physician risk communications. Implications for medical decisions, patient distress, and future research are discussed.     

Tranquillisers as a social problem

This paper attempts to highlight the value of the ‘social problem’ perspective for the sociology of health and illness by applying it to the issue of tranquilliser use and dependence. The approach involves focusing on the emergence of benzodiazepine tranquilliser dependence as a social problem and the extent to which it has been legitimated by the media and by the state. In the conclusion we draw out the implications of our case study for the development of a ‘natural history’ of social problems.     

Boards of directors in nonprofit organizations do they follow a life-cycle model?

In this study the authors used data from a survey of Canadian nonprofit organizations to empirically test hypotheses derived from models of nonprofit board “life cycles.” The authors suggest that while formal structural elements of board behavior change in the manner suggested by life-cycle models, the more enacted or behavioral aspects of nonprofit boards do not. The data further suggest caution in the use of life-cycle or age-dependent models to either explain or guide nonprofit board behavior.     

Social policy options and fuel poverty

The concept of ‘fuel poverty’, the inability to afford adequate warmth at home has become a focus for social policies in recent years. Increasing numbers of households dependent on social security and the likelihood that fuel will become more expensive mean that the existing problem of fuel poverty may become even greater. The data on fuel expenditure and related variables from three national surveys are used to evaluate various policy options for relieving fuel poverty. Three policies for increasing incomes to pay for fuel costs are considered, increasing benefits, introducing a fuel allowance or extending the existing scheme of additional heating requirements. The policies for reducing fuel expenditure are also considered, restructuring tariffs, changing payment methods and conservation measures. The case is made for priority to be given to an advice and information campaign and a conservation programme aimed at poor households who are unable to respond to existing price signals and grants.