Volume 10 Issue 12

OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open access peer-reviewed journal 

Sustainability through Post-Harvest Management of Produce and Need for Rural Industrialization in India
Amritpal Singh
Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, India.

Volume 10, Issue 12, Pg. 11-16, 2017.

Abstract: The paradigm shift from a primarily agricultural economy to an industrial work house has set up an atmosphere for a need of high productivity in the Indian villages. Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable in nature that results in rapid spoilage and deterioration in quality. However, proper post harvest management can reduce this spoilage. The cost of reducing spoilage is much lesser than the production on additional land. A good post harvest management reduces spoilage by preserving seasonal surplus and cull fruits and vegetables, which often lie rotting on the roadside. Processing and value addition increases food availability, generates cattle feed by converting factory waste thus reduces garbage accumulation. Growers get remunerative price of their produce and consumers buy it at reasonable price. Many indigenous fruits and vegetables, which are not generally marketed, as fresh can be processed into value added products for export. These products are in demand in national and international market due to its medicinal and therapeutic properties. Fresh as well as processed fruits and vegetables is rich source of vital nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fibers etc. It gives nutritional security forever growing population and protects their health. Resultantly, the concepts of food parks, food processing plants, etc. have gained significance in the recent past, whereby, governments have taken keen initiative to promote proper post harvest management of produce. 

The paper entails to discuss as to how, the post harvest management can reduce losses after harvest and increase food availability thereby providing food and nutritional securities. More so, is seeks to discuss how the proper post harvest care can add value and provide benefit to the producers and consumers. Further, it seeks to explain how efficient post harvest operation can generate employment and bring rural Industrialization. Highlighting the role of post harvest technology for better economy of the country, through export earning, is also what this paper seeks to present to the readers.

As also, the motive of the present paper is to demonstrate how appropriate post harvest management and processing can utilise unmarketable produce and processing waste for gainful purpose, thereby , reducing the pollution and city garbage. 

Keywords: Accessibility, Export Earning, Management of Produce, Processing and Value Addition, Post-Harvest, Rural Industrialisation, Sustainability.

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How will a fragile trust lead to an unsustainable development? A study of trust at the age of Constitutionalism in Iran
Mohammad Reza Javadi Yeganeh a, Amir Moein Nikzad Larijani b
a,b Department of Sociology, University of Tehran, Ale-Ahmad Ave., Tehran, Iran.

Volume 10, Issue 12, Pg. 17-26, 2017.

Abstract: Iran is facing many difficulties in the route of development and passing more than one hundred years from the first high step, it stills drags behind the name of a “developing country”. One of the most important basic components in the sustainable social development is the social trust. Social trust is a grace which can save the society from paying an extravagant cost and like a constant paste can establish social ties among individual activists. Fading out the trust is in a sense a type of imposing tax on the society. Iran has always taken a step in the route of development but this development has not had the expected development and in some of the historical moments has had degrade rather than growth. In order to understand the quality of the trend of development in Iran, we have firstly dealt with the study of the Iranian social movement in which for the first time, the Iranian general demands are fulfilled within the framework of an action based on trust in association with the body of Bāzār and colorful presence of clergies. The approach of this paper for cultivating the causes of sluggish speed of the development growth in Iran is the study of the Mashruteh Revolution from the viewpoint of trust culture. Thus, understanding the historical heritage of a society which confirms the competency of trust or rejects it according to its experience has been converted into the main question. Has social underdevelopment been fulfilled despite the presence of a rich historical heritage of trust (trust culture) and/or its opposite one, i.e. (distrust culture) has been prevailing? The study of the history of Persian Constitutional Revolution (Mashruteh Movement) shows that the level of trust in the concerned historical period has been in a fragile and insignificant position -which with the exception of some crucial moments- has not overpassed the intermediate levels. The significance of this revolution becomes more prominent because it has a long record of hundred years of oligarchy governments and unlimited power of the kings in possession of the peoples’ heart and assets. However in these critical moments, the role of trust in the creation of social development and success of the public demand (despite the state resistance in accepting it) is to such an extent outstanding and colorful that it may not be ignored. Finally it seems that the sustainable development is subject to the quality of the trust culture in its previous age which becomes possible in the light of durability and stability. 

Keywords: History, Iran, Mashruteh, Social Development, Trust

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Resettlement Risks in a Dynamic Perspective: A Case of Southern Transport Development Project in Sri Lanka
Akira Ozawa a, So Morikawa a
a Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Volume 10, Issue 12, Pg. 27-36, 2017.

Abstract: Throughout the world, land acquisition and resettlement issues have been critical to infrastructure development projects. They not only lead to delays and additional costs in the development projects but also have negative impacts on many aspects of affected people’s lives. Therefore, social safeguard policies in international development agencies and multilateral development banks have tried to cover a broad range of resettlement risks and their mitigation measures.

Scholars have proposed several models to understand the issues and to propose risk mitigation measures. Among them, Cernea’s ‘impoverishment risks and reconstruction model’ (IRR) classified the negative effects of resettlement on local residents caused by development: landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, food insecurity, loss of access to common property resources, increased morbidity and community disarticulation (Cernea, 1997). 

Meanwhile, IRR model has been criticized because the model fails to take account of the sequential and composite nature of risk (Dwivedi, 2002). Dwivedi points out that risk unfolds in a complex sequence of events and there is a need to analyze risk management issues in a process based framework [ibid]. He also claims that IRR model diagnoses the problems only from the viewpoint of the planner. It does not provide the scope for affected people to define their losses or to express their opinion on displacement. 

This study aims to investigate the degree of each risk and its changes after displacement in Southern Transport Development Project (STDP), which was the first highway project in Sri Lanka. Morikawa tried to identify the risks the affected people faced in resettlers’ perceptions in resettlement sites using Cernea’s model (Morikawa, 2015). Conducting questionnaire surveys in the resettlement sites again in 2016 enabled us to see the difference from the time of his visit in 2010-11, the degree of each risk and its changes after resettlement. 

Our survey results show that different livelihood elements follow different recovery process. Infrastructure such as electricity and house have fairly improved while water issues have not been solved in more than 30% of the households. Many respondents answered they had bought bigger and more comfortable house than before resettlement. This lead to high satisfaction of “house” element but it sometimes ended up in their exhausting compensation and failure in life reconstruction. On the other hand, other element of living improved little and especially recovery rates of income, food and relations with relatives are quite low, implying that there might be room for improvement on resettlement policies for these elements. Job training was conducted after resettlement but many respondents answered it was not very useful for their life reconstruction. 

The observations from our survey call for continuous assessment of resettlement risks in infrastructure development projects, and we claim that stage-wise evaluation, management and preparation of resettlement risks are necessary.

Keywords: Impoverishment Risk; Infrastructure Development; Land Acquisition; Livelihood Reconstruction; Resettlement. 

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Female Part Time Students’ Perceptions of their Empowerment:  A Case for Sustaining Womens’ Opportunity to Acquire Higher Education in Nigeria
Bernadette Amukahara Egede a, Helen Ihieonyemolor Ajudeonu b
a,b College of Education Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria.

Volume 10, Issue 12, Pg. 35-41, 2017.

Abstract: Part time Education programmes in Teacher Education Institutions are designed to aid the achievement of Education for All (EFA) goals, especially in giving opportunity to those who experienced delay in enrolling in Tertiary Institutions. Studies have shown that the programmes usually attract more female students, who could not study in the full time mode especially in their earlier years of age. This study assessed the perception of the female students on the impact of their studies in empowering them for greater productivity in their families and society. The population of this study is made up of final year students in the four types of part time programmes of the College in the 20014/2015 session. The sample is made up of 146 students (out of 150) who were available at the time of data collection. The programmes are: the weekend Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE); the Weekend Degree; the Sandwich NCE and the Part time Degree. Their perceptions were obtained using a structured questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using percentages and mean ratings (pastedGraphic.png). The results showed that the female students perceived that their studies so far have imparted positively their capability, disposition, attitudes and aspirations in the following specific areas:

  • Confidence to perform leadership roles in the society (pastedGraphic_1.png)
  • Realization of the importance of early education of the girl child (pastedGraphic_2.png)
  • Confidence to support equal education of both boys and girls in the family (pastedGraphic_3.png) 
  • Desire to study further if given the opportunity (pastedGraphic_3.png)
  • Disposition that marriage should not disrupt the education of girls (pastedGraphic_4.png)
  • Opportunity to support family income significantly (pastedGraphic_4.png)
  • Understanding the limitation of females who are not educated from contributing their best in the society (pastedGraphic_5.png)
  • Confidence to aspire for higher positions and jobs in the society (pastedGraphic_6.png)

These results which portray profound reality elucidate the potential of the part time programmes to enhance the self concept and productivity of women who dare to rise to the challenge of their low level of education. These female students formed 65% of the total number of students in that session, with 15% of them in the age range below 25years, 72% in the range (25-40years) while 13% are above 40years.Their perceptions imply that the experiences, knowledge and skills which they acquired during their studies could empower them to encourage the girl children in the families to enroll for and complete their higher education before marriage. Recommendations based on these result are focused on the ways to re-position these part-time programmes so as to sustain their potentials in empowering women for overall national development. One of such ways is to organize separate accreditation of the part time programmes so as to ensure their quality just as it is done for the full time mode.

Keywords: Empowerment, Females’ perceptions, Part-time programmes.

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Status Evaluation of Palm Oil Waste Management Sustainability in Malaysia
Oseghale, Sunday Dalton a, Ahmad Fariz Mohamed b, Aja Ogboo Chikere c
a,b Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,  
Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
c Department of Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University Malaysia, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

Volume 10, Issue 12, Pg. 41-48, 2017.

Abstract: Malaysia occupies a strategic position in palm oil production and export in the world. The palm oil industrial process is been characterized by huge waste generation both in the upstream and downstream sectors. In 2015, the solid biomass waste generated in the palm oil industry in Malaysia was rated about 75.61 million tons per annum while the palm oil mill effluent (POME) waste generated amounts to 65.35 million tons per year. The palm oil biomass waste and POME generation are projected at 85-110 million tons and 70-110 million tons per year by 2020. The growth in the waste generation poses environmental sustainability challenges in relation to the waste management and greenhouse gas generation from both the solid biomass and POME. The status of the palm oil waste management is important considering sustainability in the industry and the environment, thus this study is centred on analysing the different waste management processes and their input in waste reduction and sustainability. This study is conducted using statistical data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board and secondary data from literatures. It was observed that the Malaysian Palm oil industry is fast growing and currently has a plantation of over 5.74 million hectares where about 87% are mature palm trees which contributes to the high volume of solid waste through pruning. The management of the solid waste has been mainly the use of the wastes as bio-fertilizer like mulching and composting. Researches and technological development on the conversion of the waste to energy like in the heat and power is fully developed where the palm oil mills generate about 300MW of electricity while targeting 800MW by 2020. Other conversion processes of the solid waste to renewable energy in the form of biofuels (gasification, and briquette production) are in their different developmental stages. Palm oil solid waste has also been useful as bio-composite materials like the production of plywood/particle boards, fibre-mats, bio-char and activated carbon. Similarly, bio-chemical conversions have been employed in the management of palm oil solid waste which include extraction of sugars/cellulose, lignin, vitamin E, and carotenes which are currently at the emerging stage. The conversion of the POME fermentation product (Methane)/biogas is still in a very early stage in Malaysia even though methane has high negative impact on the environment. The management of the palm oil mills effluent is one major area where the Malaysia palm oil industry is still lagging behind. Out of the 450 palm oil mills in the country, only 90 mills representing 20% has installed biogas capturing system. Currently, 360 palm oil mills representing 80% of the total palm oil mills treat their generated POME in open ponding, 52 mills representing 12% uses Digester Tank while 38 mills (8%) treat the POME in Covered Lagoon. The analysis of the 90 mills that are involved in biogas capture showed that 52 mills flare the captured gas while 12 mills use the gas for Combined Heat & Power generation, 24 mills use the gas for electricity generation, while 2 mills use the gas for package boiler. It was also found that out of the 24 mills that generates electricity; 19 are connected to the grid while the others are mainly for the mills activities. It can be concluded that there is progress in the growth of sustainability in the Malaysia palm oil industry. More monitoring and applications of the research findings in the industry are required for faster growth in sustainability in the industry. 

Keywords: Oil Palm Waste, Palm Oil Mill Effluent, Sustainability, Waste Management, Waste to Energy

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Community Partnerships and Education: paving the way to sustainable development in India
Shweta Sinha Deshpande a, Sulakshana Sen b, Sana Anil Vaidya c
a,b,c Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, Pune, India.

Volume 10, Issue 12, Pg. 49-65, 2017.

Abstract: With the vision of Transforming the World, the United Nations on September 25, 2015 adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030 as the successor to the Millennium Development Goals. With the key focus on sustainability, the SDGs aim to work with environment, economics, and society through an inclusive partnership at the global, national and local levels.

India has embraced the agenda of the SDGs through the National Institution for Transforming India or NITI Ayog and the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). One of the key agenda for the nation is social inclusion and ‘empowerment of the poor for removing poverty through education and skill development… of turning distant dreams into immediate possibilities…. of dignity though housing, power, water and sanitation for all’.  Development measures in India, with its socio-cultural-economic diversity, demographic magnitude and the colonial baggage have not achieved the expected success since independence. The lack of success of equitable development is visible in the below poverty line population data which ranges approximately from 20-24% in 2015 depending on the data sources available and the increasing disparity of income among the rich and the poor. 

The concept of social inclusion, represents a vision for “a society for all”, in which every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to play.  NITI Aayog provides a platform for cooperative federalism and facilitates the working together of the Union and States as equals in providing policy interventions to the Union Government. Inclusion however, is a participatory idea at all levels of goal setting, execution of processes and its sustained outcomes  for reduction of inequalities, discrimination, social justice and cohesion. For India, to ensure successful implementation of sustainable development goals, increased community participation is desirable. It is time to reconfigure the population dividend and emphasize its strength as human capital instead of developmental hindrances.

This paper outlines a further localized framework for community based partnership and proposes a strategy for development to take forward the UN mandate of “Partnership with community to develop strategy for development”. The idea of this partnership is to move beyond the global and governing leadership to the local communities, wanting and expecting change, to actually mobilize resources. This can be achieved through asset and need assessments within the local community to enhance growth and capacity building for a long term sustainable growth and development. This ties in well with the key idea of SDG’s to reduce poverty, hunger, inequality and promotion of health, sanitation and equality in all sectors for enhancement of human development and capacity building. Human development indices are associated not just with the macro-systems but also with the local or the meso-community level and its socio-cultural environment, and therefore needs to be approached from within the local system and parallel organizational and financial support from the government and other bodies such as the corporate and institutional sectors including education systems. 

The paper will first outline the meaning and scope of the terms community and development in context of the SDGs, especially Goal 17. Further it will outline the strategy for community development in context of the Institutional Social Responsibility (ISR) and the scope that it represents in reaching out to the community, through the youth in academic and academia affiliated institutions. The paper also aims to explore the scope of community engagement as a means of building human capital for charting the road to development in a sustainable manner. This contention that partnership with the community through ISR for transforming India by 2030 will be fortified through some case studies that have explored community partnerships for sustainable development. Though the suggested strategies cover the urban socio-economic setup of globalized India, nonetheless they reflect the problems faced by most countries across the world.

Keywords: capacity building, community partnership, education, human capital, sustainable development

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