ORCID Profile
0000-0002-3666-8892
Current Organisations
CSIRO
,
CSIRO Black Mountain Laboratories
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
Publisher: Resilience Alliance, Inc.
Date: 2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-02-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.PREVETMED.2016.01.019
Abstract: Pig movements play a significant role in the spread of economically important infectious diseases such as the African swine fever. Characterization of movement networks between pig farms and through other types of farm and household enterprises that are involved in pig value chains can provide useful information on the role that different participants in the networks play in pathogen transmission. Analysis of social networks that underpin these pig movements can reveal pathways that are important in the transmission of disease, trade in commodities, the dissemination of information and the influence of behavioural norms. We assessed pig movements among pig keeping households within West Kenya and East Uganda and across the shared Kenya-Uganda border in the study region, to gain insight into within-country and trans-boundary pig movements. Villages were s led using a randomized cluster design. Data were collected through interviews in 2012 and 2013 from 683 smallholder pig-keeping households in 34 villages. NodeXL software was used to describe pig movement networks at village level. The pig movement and trade networks were localized and based on close social networks involving family ties, friendships and relationships with neighbours. Pig movement network modularity ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 and exhibited good community structure within the network implying an easy flow of knowledge and adoption of new attitudes and beliefs, but also promoting an enhanced rate of disease transmission. The average path length of 5 defined using NodeXL, indicated that disease could easily reach every node in a cluster. Cross-border boar service between Uganda and Kenya was also recorded. Unmonitored trade in both directions was prevalent. While most pig transactions in the absence of disease, were at a small scale ( 10km. The close social relationships between actors in pig movement networks indicate the potential for possible interventions to develop shared norms and mutually accepted protocols amongst smallholder pig keepers to better manage the risk of ASF introduction and transmission.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.PREVETMED.2017.03.005
Abstract: We applied social network analysis to pig trader networks on the Kenya-Uganda border. Social network analysis is a recently developed tool, which is useful for understanding value chains and improving disease control policies. We interviewed a s le of 33 traders about their experiences with trade and African swine fever (ASF), analyzed the networks they generated in purchasing pigs and selling pork and their potential contribution to modulating dissemination of the ASF virus (ASFV). The majority of the traders were aware of clinical signs of ASF and the risk of trade transmitting ASFV. Most said they avoided buying pigs from ASF outbreak villages or sick pigs but their experiences also indicated that inadvertent purchase was relatively common. Traders had early knowledge of outbreaks since they were contacted by farmers who had heard rumours and wanted to sell their pigs to avoid the risk of them dying. In idual traders bought pigs in up to nine villages, and up to six traders operated in a village. Although each trade typically spanned less than 5km, networks of the various traders, comprising movements of pigs from source villages to slaughter slabs/sites and retail outlets, and movement of pork to villages where it was consumed, linked up indirectly across the 100km×50km study area and revealed several trade pathways across the Kenya-Uganda border. ASF could potentially spread across this area and beyond through sequential pig and pork transactions. Regulation of the pig and pork trade was minimal in practice. The risk of ASFV being spread by traders was compounded by their use of poorly constructed slaughter slabs/sites with open drainage, ineffective or non-existent meat inspection services, lack of provision for biosecurity in the value chain, and sales of pork to customers who were unaware of the risks to their own pigs from contact with ASF infected pork. More effective regulation is warranted. However, limitations on government capacity, together with the strong self-interest that established traders have in reducing the disruption and financial losses that outbreaks cause, highlight the importance of governments and traders co-developing an approach to ASF control. Formation of trader organizations or common interest groups warrants government support as an important step in engaging traders in developing and implementing effective approaches to reduce the risk of ASF outbreaks.
Publisher: CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship
Date: 2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2014
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.1071/RJ07040
Abstract: Arid systems are markedly different from non-arid systems. This distinctiveness extends to arid-social networks, by which we mean social networks which are influenced by the suite of factors driving arid and semi-arid regions. Neither the process of how aridity interacts with social structure, nor what happens as a result of this interaction, is adequately understood. This paper postulates three relative characteristics which make arid-social networks distinct: that they are tightly bound, are hierarchical in structure and, hence, prone to power abuses, and contain a relatively higher proportion of weak links, making them reactive to crisis. These ideas were modified from workshop discussions during 2006. Although they are neither tested nor presented as strong beliefs, they are based on the anecdotal observations of arid-system scientists with many years of experience. This paper does not test the ideas, but rather examines them in the context of five arid-social network case studies with the aim of hypotheses building. Our cases are networks related to pastoralism, Aboriginal outstations, the ‘Far West Coast Aboriginal Enterprise Network’ and natural resources in both the Lake-Eyre basin and the Murray–Darling catchment. Our cases highlight that (1) social networks do not have clear boundaries, and that how participants perceive their network boundaries may differ from what network data imply, (2) although network structures are important determinants of system behaviour, the role of participants as in iduals is still pivotal, (3) and while in certain arid cases weak links are engaged in crisis, the exact structure of all weak links in terms of how they place participants in relation to other communities is what matters.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.1071/RJ07041
Abstract: The Australian rangelands are ided into regions for statistical reporting, cultural identification or administrative and bioregional management purposes. However, many of these isions do not reflect the characteristics of inland towns. In this study we used the Urban Centre/Locality (UCL) structure (for settlements with at least 200 people) as the smallest unit of analysis to build preliminary socio-regions based on demographic (e.g. Median Age and percentage of Indigenous people in UCL), socio-economic (dependency ratio and unemployment rate) and a few environmental indicators (e.g. Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Rainfall variability). A key finding of the study is that there are strong differences among UCLs in the rangelands. A threshold of around 5000 people is apparent with some indicators across all UCLs around which variability changes. There is much greater variability in the indicators among UCLs with fewer than 5000 people than there is among UCLs with over 5000 people. This confirms the need to consider statistical units smaller than those commonly used such as Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) as these and other regionalisation techniques mask the detail within areas that contain socio-economically and culturally different settlements. The high variability of indicator values observed for UCLs with smaller populations suggests that they have more erse research, policy and investment needs than larger urban centres. We used a non-traditional approach and grouped UCLs into socio-regions based on their social characteristics instead of their geographic location. This created clusters of similar UCLs rather than contiguous regions. Some of these socio-regions cross administrative and statistical borders. The regionalisation presented in this study is likely to be valuable when selecting case-study areas for research projects and, in the long-term, when developing policy and investment initiatives.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2012
Publisher: CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Date: 2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
Publisher: Resilience Alliance, Inc.
Date: 2012
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2006
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2001
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.1071/RJ07038
Abstract: The sustainable livelihoods approach is widely used in rural development internationally but has been little applied in Australia. It is a framework for thinking and communicating about factors that impact on the livelihoods of in iduals and families including their health, well being and income and the maintenance of natural resource condition. The approach aims to promote a systemic understanding of how multiple variables impact on local people’s livelihoods. Three case studies are outlined, that highlight its potential as a tool for collaborative engagement of researchers, local people and other stakeholders, to promote sustainability of Aboriginal livelihood systems in remote desert Australia and to contribute to improved understanding of the dynamics of regional socio-ecological systems.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 29-11-2016
Abstract: This article reflects critically on the use of a wiki as a data repository for knowledge transfer and as a mediating technical platform for social learning in the context of a multi-country programme of agricultural research for development. The wiki was designed to foster sustainable social learning and an emergent community of practice among biophysical and social researchers acting for the first time as co-researchers. Over time, the technologically mediated element of the learning system was judged to have failed. The article is based on an inquiry that asked ‘How can learning system design cultivate learning opportunities and respond to learning challenges in an online environment to support research for development practice?’ The article also considers the wider context and institutional setting in which the knowledge work took place.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 22-08-2007
DOI: 10.1093/CDJ/BSI094
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2010
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1071/RJ11022
Abstract: Employment is generally considered as essential for improving in idual and social livelihoods and wellbeing in Australia. Typically, employment rates are low among Aboriginal people living in remote regions of Australia. Often this is attributed to a lack of mainstream labour markets. However, Aboriginal employment participation is low even in remote places where there are employment opportunities, creating a seemingly paradoxical situation of lots of job vacancies and lots of unemployed locals. Social networks are one of the factors that contribute to this phenomenon, and that can potentially help to address it. We applied social network and social capital theory in research in the Anmatjere region of central Australia. Our findings indicate that Aboriginal people have strong and dense bonding networks but sparse bridging and linking networks. While the existence of such ties is supported by research and observation elsewhere in remote Australia, the implications for employment have not been considered from the perspective of social network theory. Dense bonding networks reinforce, and are reinforced by, Aboriginal norms of sharing and reciprocity. These underpin the Aboriginal moral economy but can have negative influence on motivation to engage with mainstream employment opportunities that are driven by workplace and market norms. Brokers who can bridge and link Aboriginal in iduals and their dense social networks to potential employers are essential for Aboriginal people to be able to obtain trusted information on jobs and have entrée to employment opportunities. Brokers also foster new norms that mediate the conflicting values and expectations held by potential Aboriginal employees and employers, who are generally not Aboriginal people. Social network theory suggests that bridging and linking provides advantage to the broker. However, stress and burnout are readily suffered by the people who broker networks with ergent values in cross-cultural settings. To improve employment outcomes and expand livelihood options for Aboriginal people in remote Australia, it is essential to recognise, support and recruit brokers.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-2014
DOI: 10.5367/OA.2014.0170
Abstract: This paper explores innovation processes and institutional change within research for development (R4D). It draws on learning by Australian participants associated with the implementation of a three-year Australian-funded food security R4D programme in Africa, and in particular a sub-component designed to support and elicit this learning. The authors critically examine this attempt at institutional innovation via the creation of a ‘learning project’ (LP) in a larger programme. For systemic innovation to be achieved, it is concluded that the system of concern must envisage institutional innovation and change within the donor and external research organizations as well as with project recipients and collaborative partners. Institutional constraints and opportunities are explored, including how the overall approach to learning in this programme could have been reframed as an organizational innovation platform (IP), designing, managing and evaluating IPs at different systemic levels of governance – including within the collaborative programme with African partners, in the constituent in-country projects, in the collaborating Australian organizations and at the level of personal practice.
No related grants have been discovered for Yiheyis Maru.