Browsing by Author "Hanisch, Markus"

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Pesticide Residues in Urban Water Bodies: Organic Farming as a Community Based Mitigation Strategy in Hyderabad Peri-Urban Area
(2011) Mallegowda, Rajeshwari; Hussain, Zakir; Hanisch, Markus
"The contamination of natural water bodies and tanks by pesticide residues is of great concern in the Greater Hyderabad Area. The rural and peri urban agriculture around Hyderabad is conventional with heavy usage of pesticides and chemicals, highly concentrated on paddy and vegetable cultivation. Agricultural pesticides are mainly of organochlorine and organophosphorous compounds. These pesticides are considered to be dangerous not only for the environment but for human beings as well. Pesticide residue reaches the urban water environment through direct run off, leaching, careless disposal of empty containers, equipment washings. According to a study by School of Chemical sciences, India, pesticide concentrations exceeded allowable levels for drinking water in samples of river water and groundwater in Hyderabad. Inorder to reduce the levels of agricultural pesticide and chemical residues in urban water bodies, community based ‘Organic farming’ is being implemented as an alternative strategy. The paper focuses on the case study conducted in two mandals of peri urban areas around Hyderabad, Manchal (Rangareddy district) and Bommalaramaram (Nalagonda district). The community managed sustainable agriculture (CMSA) in these villages was initiated by NGO’s, PEACE and Vikasith Bharath foundation in cooperation with Self help group members in the year 2006. About 50 farmers in Manchal and 50 farmers in Bommalaramaram are practicing organic vegetable cultivation. The case study unveiled that due to organic practices in agriculture there is substantial scope for reduction in pesticide residues in common water bodies around Hyderabad, reduction in cost of cultivation of crops and improved health condition of farmers. The case study reveals the significant contribution of community managed sustainable agriculture in safeguarding the urban common property resource (CPR), the water bodies."
The Role of Social Capital and Further Assets for Collective Action and User Participation to Solve Water Resource Problems in Megacities
(2011) Meyer-Ueding, J.; Rommel, J.; Hanisch, Markus
"Many large cities around the world face huge challenges of water scarcity. In the South-Indian emerging megacity Hyderabad, uncontrolled population growth and negative effects of climate change add to the existing water crisis. While the upper middle class, farmers around the city, and industries consume a lot of water, slum residents are left behind with inadequate water supplies. As successful cases from slums in other developing countries show, neighborhood organizations can help to improve upon the status quo of water service provision. The degree of collective organization in Hyderabad’s slums is low, however. This paper hypothesizes that differences in assets are responsible for this gap. From a stratified survey of 500 households in Hyderabad we describe differences in endowments across neighborhoods and analyze the way in which assets in general and social capital in particular affect the willingness to address water-related problems collectively. We find that this willingness strongly depends on location – i.e. city zone and type of neighborhood –, having experienced water quality problems, and norm following. In slum neighborhoods also the level of education positively impacts the willingness to organize with one’s neighbors. From these findings we conclude that endowments with social capital and other assets cannot satisfactorily explain the lack of organization. Further research should be directed towards the strong geographical differences in the willingness to organize."
Social Capital Formation and Restructuring in Post Socialist Agriculture: A Research Agenda
(2002) Hanisch, Markus; Laschewski, Lutz
"The idea of the paper is to comparatively reflect the basic findings of our empirical research on rural restructuring in CEECs and Eastern Germany in the light of both, The New Institutional Economics and The Social Capital Thesis, both taken as heuristic concepts. We identify two pathways, we can observe as rather extreme outcomes of the restructuring process, as network strategies. From a network perspective both pathways describe unsatisfactory network strategies. From a network perspective both pathways describe unsatisfactory network structures. To understand the implications, we change the theoretical perspective and argue along a simple choice model. Along that model, we discuss the question of which elements in the structures we observe are responsible for our pessimistic assessment of the future perspectives of these strategies. This leads us to the some theoretical aspects of a research agenda on how to consider and normatively assess network structures. This research agenda is meant to be a contribution to further discussion about research objectives and methodology of workgroup three of the Transcoop project."