Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Nyando – Katuk Odeyo, Kenya

This is the report of the village baseline study of Kamuana village in the CCAFS benchmark site of Nyando, Kenya, which took place from 18 to 20 May 2011. Population pressure has created land fragmentation and reduction in the area of land that families have under cultivation. These conditions plus unpredictable rainfall patterns have reduced agricultural production but attempts to increase production have led to over-cultivation, soil exhaustion and erosion. Meanwhile, demarcation of land, private ownership and commercialization has reduced access to natural resources. Increased demand and commercialization has led to cultivation of cash crops and use of modern technology, but farming families have very limited resources. Not surprisingly, cultivated land has expanded at the expense of the area left under forest. Eighteen out of the 19 organisations operating in the community were engaged in food security, which shows the importance and the fragility of food security in the community. The same organisations engage in times of food crisis. Twelve organisations are involved in supporting natural resources management. Radio Ramogi and Radio Lake Victoria are the most popular sources of agriculture-related information. The community primarily relies on observations of the environment for information on weather conditions

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Albertine Rift – Hoima, Uganda

The village baseline study of Kibaire village in the CCAFS benchmark site Hoima in Uganda took place from 13 to 16 July 2011. Forests are exploited at unsustainable levels in Kibaire but deforestation does not appear to be a serious threat because the tree population is still relatively high. Most of the forests have been leased to private individuals as part of the privatisation policy being implemented in Uganda. Wetlands are also increasingly subjected to overexploitation and pollution from brewing and other activities. Farming at both subsistence and commercial level is increasing at the expense of forests. Community access to forest resources is restricted. Participants identified 29 organisations working in the community, two-third of them operating from outside the locality. Participants said that they did have plenty of food in the village, and women expressed that they had never had a food crisis. Nonetheless, half of the organisations men and women identified were involved in some form of food security related activity, and notably food availability. Less than one-third of the organisations addressed natural resources management, and most of them were from outside the community. Organisations are the most significant source of information on agriculture. Farmers also get information through the many radio stations in the area that air many programs in local languages

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Usambara – Lushoto, Tanzania (TZ0105)

The village baseline study of Kwang’wenda village in the CCAFS benchmark Lushoto site, Tanzania took place from April 27 to 29, 2011. Focus group discussions were conducted separately for men and women. Population growth and agriculture intensification have led to encroachment onto the forest areas, reduction in riparian vegetation, cultivation along the riverbank, and soil fertility depletion on the farmland. The overall area under farming has increased but individual farms have become smaller and production per unit area has reduced due to land subdivision. The community’s vision of the future includes the conservation and expansion of the forest area by planting more trees and enforcing restrictions on illegal logging. It also calls for promoting agroforestry systems in the farmlands and allowing riverine vegetation to mature, in order to ensure clean waters in the rivers. The discussion groups identified 32 organisations, and 60% of them were involved in food security assistance, prioritizing food availability. Radio is the most significant source of information on agriculture in the village. Men were better informed about and interacted with groups that operated beyond the locality, while women were more aware of and engaged in groups that operated within the community but had limited operational capacity

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Kagera Basin – Rakai, Uganda

The village baseline study of Kyengeza village in the CCAFS site Kagera Basin – Rakai in Uganda took place from 4 to 6 July 2011. Study participants are aware that their food security depends on protecting and appropriately managing natural resources. Nonetheless, there is a general decline in the state of natural resources such as rivers, lakes and forests, and the current use of the same resources is not sustainable over time. The main drivers of such changes in the region are population growth and government policies that have privatised forests and other natural areas previously managed by the village, effectively disempowering the community. There are more organisations operating beyond the locality than those operating in the community. The external organisations started delivering food, tools, medicines and other resources in response to HIV/AIDS. Their ability to mobilise resources, however, is undermining self-help capacity within the village, which is not conducive to sustainable rural development. Radio and organisations are the most frequently used sources of information for agricultural decision- making. There is a relatively active information network compared to other CCAFS sites, and a fair amount of consultation with all kinds of sources of information. This may be linked to high levels of uncertainty associated with climate change and food security

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Yabello – Borana, Ethiopia

The village baseline of Denbela Saden village in the CCAFS benchmark site of Yabello in Ethiopia took place from 10th to 12th August 2011. Focus group discussions were conducted separately for men and women. Denbela Saden is a Borana pastoralist village located in a semi-arid area where the dominant vegetation is grass, scrub and acacia trees. It faces inadequate and low quality pasture due to encroachment by bushes, livestock overstocking, and human settlement, all related to a government policy of encouraging permanent settlement of the pastoralists as opposed to the former system of nomadism. The increasing population and the settlement of the community have amplified the need for crop cultivation to complement weakened pastoral production. Cultivation is dependent on often inadequate and unreliable rainfall, and takes place in the valley beds. Crop residues are not incorporated into the soil but used to feed animals. Not surprisingly, yields are very low. Government agricultural extension services do not add much value to cultivators because they focus on livestock services in this area. Two parallel governance systems co-exist in Denbela Saden village, namely the traditional customary system and the modern government system, and the challenge is to create a win–win situation where the operations of these systems are synchronized. The government describes the area as chronically food insecure, and it is not surprising that more than half of the 16 groups/organisations working in the region address food security issues

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Lawra – Jirapa, Ghana (GH0108)

The village baseline study of Doggoh village in the CCAFS benchmark site Jirapa-Lawra in Ghana took place from 26th to 28st July 2011. Focus group discussions were conducted separately for men and women. Doggoh village is located in a Sudan Savannah characterized by a considerable tree population, and the farming system it practices involves cultivation among trees. Land is cultivated by individuals but owned and administered communally through a traditional system of local chiefs. The average land productivity is low and the community can only produce enough to feed themselves for 3 months a year, resulting in the need to seek food from other sources for 9 months of the year. To survive, people depend on remittances. Trees are communally managed with community sanctions against those who break the accepted practice. Nonetheless, the sale of wood fuel is putting pressure on the tree population. There is evidence of degradation on the landscape where vegetation has been removed and there is bare soil. The community relies on boreholes for their domestic water supply and take for granted the value of wetlands and the rivers, which remained effectively unmanaged. The participants identified 22 organisations in the village, including 12 operating beyond the locality, 3 functioning within the locality and 7 operational within the community. Seventeen organisations contribute to food security, and other 14 encourage natural resource management. Organisations and radio are the most important sources of information

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Xai Xai, Zongoene Village, Bairro 1, Mozambique

This is the report of the village baseline study of Zongoene Village, Bairro 1, in the CCAFS benchmark site of Xai Xai, Mozambique in May 2013 to complement an earlier household baseline survey done in the same village. Zongoene village is located by the coast at the mouth of the Limpopo River where there are extensive wetlands along with forests and sand dunes. The village is divided into five sections: Bairro 1, Bairro 2, Bairro 3, Bairro 4 and Bairro 5. Zongoene is the result of a government resettlement program that brought people together to ease service provision. Nonetheless, the level and quality of services remain very low with roads in bad condition, local schools poorly built and lacking water, one hospital with insufficient staff and resources, and nascent electrical availability. The concentrated and expanding population is also increasing pressures on the environment as demand for food and farmland grows

PH 501 Philosophy of Religion

1. Hasker, William. Metaphysics. (Downer’s Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1983). 2. Peterson, Michael, ed. Reason and Religious Belief. 3rd edition. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). 3. Peterson, Michael, ed. Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings. 2nd edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/1918/thumbnail.jp

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Chicualacuala, Maluana, Mozambique (MO0145)

This is the report of the village baseline study of Maluana village in the CCAFS benchmark site of Chicualacuala, Mozambique from May 5-12, 2013 to complement an earlier household baseline survey done in the same village

PH 501 B Introduction to Philosophy of Religion

Course Description A survey of the philosophical method; a study of the mutual impact of the Christian faith and philosophical discourse upon each other; a reflection upon the overlap between Christian and philosophical ethics; and a critical assessment of the relationship between the Christian understanding of reality and other ways of perceiving it.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/1151/thumbnail.jp