Papers by Jolanda van den Berg
For a transition to a food secure future, the world’s food systems will need to deliver more nutr... more For a transition to a food secure future, the world’s food systems will need to deliver more nutritious food from fewer natural resources. The research programme Global Food Security: Scarcity and Transition has been contributing to this challenge by providing tools and knowledge that can underpin policy and action on agricultural development and food security.
This study is part of a public-private partnership project ‘Oilseeds specialties: opportunities f... more This study is part of a public-private partnership project ‘Oilseeds specialties: opportunities for the
Dutch business community in the vegetable oil industry’ from 2013 to 2015. Demand is rapidly
increasing for shea butter in cosmetics and food, derived from the oil rich nuts of the shea (Vitellaria
paradoxa) tree and for cashew nuts, seeds of the (Anacardium occidentale) tree, used mainly as a
food snack. A literature review, and interviews with 249 farmers and harvesters, processors, retailers,
exporters, 42 traditional leaders, exporters, government, research institutions, non-governmental and
civil society organisations and 17 focus group discussions were held between July and November
2014. The main findings are that rights to cashew and shea trees and their products differ greatly
between men and women. Whilst regulations governing access to land and trees in Burkina Faso and
Ghana do not discriminate between men and women, customary law governs in practice and do
differentiate. Shea is predominantly wild harvested and cashew is cultivated. Access to land for
cultivation is difficult for women in both countries. Land and tree tenure problems include a lack of
knowledge of formal laws, costs and difficulties to register land, and insecure customary tenure.
Benefits from participating in the value chains of these products have increased in both countries for
both men and women. How the income is distributed depends on whether the product comes from a
cultivated tree and if it was a joint, household or individual activity. Both sexes use the incomes from
selling raw and processed products to meet family needs, men tend to spend more on family
education and assets, women more on food. Women in cashew processing groups earn substantially
higher income. Although initiatives are ongoing in both countries, these have not had dramatic
impacts in the study areas. The main factors of success in improving gender equity in shea and
cashew chains are ensuring and securing access to land and trees for smallholders. This means
overcoming the significant cultural and associated financial barriers for women to own land and trees,
but also for smallholders to enlarge their land holdings, and supporting women to organise into groups
and improve the quantity and quality of processing. Further recommendations include raising
awareness among traditional leaders, village elders and male household heads of the potential of
women in agriculture and benefits for households; support for collective action and pilot activities, and
celebrating women’s - and men’s - successes to improve their participation in decision-making
processes in the value chains affecting them.
Dna Repair, 2005
Trichothiodystrophy (TTD) patients with a mutation in the XPD gene of nucleotide excision repair ... more Trichothiodystrophy (TTD) patients with a mutation in the XPD gene of nucleotide excision repair (NER) have a short life span and show various features of premature aging, thereby linking DNA damage to the aging process. XpdTTD mutant mice share many features with TTD patients, including a shorter life span, accompanied by a segmental progeroid phenotype. Here we report new pathology features supportive to the premature aging phenotype of XpdTTD mice. Strikingly, accelerated aging pathology is accompanied by signs suggestive of caloric restriction (CR), a condition usually linked to retardation of age-related pathology and life extension. Accelerated aging symptoms in XpdTTD mice are most likely due to accumulation of endogenously generated DNA damage and compromised transcription leading to cell death, whereas CR symptoms may reflect the need of XpdTTD mice to reduce metabolism (ROS production) in an attempt to extend their life span. Our current findings in XpdTTD mice further strengthen the link between DNA damage, repair and aging.
Knowledge in action, 2011
Knowledge in action, 2011
ABSTRACT This book takes up the challenge of contemporary landscape research. Continued poverty a... more ABSTRACT This book takes up the challenge of contemporary landscape research. Continued poverty and progressing environmental degradation and climate change show us that landscape development is complex and unpredictable. Landscapes consist of nested biophysical and social systems, which are multi-dimensional and highly dynamic, and simultaneously interact at various system levels. This leads to complex, non-linear, divergent processes and the emergence of new landscape arrangements. Scientists have to acknowledge that they cannot predict or control landscape dynamics but need the local specific knowledge and experimentation of local stakeholders. Collaborative research-for-action and research-in-action together with societal stakeholders are needed. Many scientists accept this challenge. Based on different types of system thinking, they develop theoretical frameworks and methodologies to integrate scientific and local knowledge and/or enhance learning between them and societal stakeholders for sustainable landscape development and governance. Landscape researchers, inspired by these theoretical frameworks and the perceived issue-at-stake, start defining the orientation of the research and change process in interaction with policy makers and stakeholders. The question is whether and how the different types of research contribute to ecologically sustainable, socially equitable development and governance, valued by or at least acceptable for the variety of stakeholders, organisations and institutions involved.
International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2006
... View all references). Tropical peat swamp forests are under tremendous pressure from agricult... more ... View all references). Tropical peat swamp forests are under tremendous pressure from agricultural development and forestry (Rieley et al., 199619. Rieley, JO, Page, SE and Setiadi, B. 1996. “Distribution of peatlands in Indonesia”. ...
Integrating ecosystem services into the tropical timber value chain: Dutch policy options from an innovation system approach, 2013
This study explores the governance options available to the Dutch government for the promotion of... more This study explores the governance options available to the Dutch government for the promotion of the sustainable use and maintenance of ecosystem services in tropical timber value chains with Dutch links and how ecosystem services can be given a more explicit place in the public and market mechanisms that govern the tropical timber chain. The International tropical timber value chain was chosen as a test-case after reviewing the priority products from the Sustainable Trade Action Plan (STAP) and consulting with the study’s governmental TEEB steering group. This study aims to provide insight into how the feed-back process (between value perception and ecosystem management) can be influenced to take ecosystem services better into account. Triggers, barriers, stimuli and other contextual factors or framework conditions for relevant decision making platforms/arrangements are identified, and related to governance options and policy instruments available to the Dutch government.
Knowledge in action, 2011
ABSTRACT Sustainable landscape development means researchers have to engage in collaborative rese... more ABSTRACT Sustainable landscape development means researchers have to engage in collaborative research to find an informed, ethical and locally-valued balance between ecological resilience and societal pursuits, and build the capacity for co-ordinated adaptive management of the involved stakeholders and governance institutions. In this last chapter we analyse the collaborative research processes, or so-called boundary-spanning-processes, of the case chapters. The timing and the type of boundary objects and methods used more or less define the level of participation of social stakeholders and the role and function of the researcher in the ongoing societal learning, negotiation and innovation process. The cases show the variety of functions and knowledge broker strategies pursued. From the chapters it is not clear whether all research efforts led to concrete impacts; several authors highlighted dilemma’s and bottlenecks that they found hard to deal with. We note that each type of problem and context setting requires a specific type of inquiry (theoretical system perspective), researcher role and boundary process, and to be effective the latter should evolve in line with the iterative societal learning, negotiation and innovation process. To be effective, collaborative researchers cannot limit themselves to ‘knowledge production for action’, but need to engage in ‘knowledge production in action’. They have to analyse the situation and embed their research in the ongoing change process; to opt for a multiple-dimensional, flexible research approach, and to wisely combine various types of system thinking and the respective paradigmatic assumptions. With enough background knowledge on various system approaches, continuous monitoring and reflection, collaborative researchers may become competent performers, but at the end of the day collaborative research is an art. Experts have a holistic perspective, ‘a feel’ for nuances and apply creative thinking in action.
Purpose: Within the context of the European-funded JOLISAA project (JOint Learning in and about I... more Purpose: Within the context of the European-funded JOLISAA project (JOint Learning in and about Innovation Systems in African Agriculture), an inventory of agricultural innovation experiences was made in Benin, Kenya and South Africa. The objective was to assess multi-stakeholder agricultural innovation processes involving smallholders.
Approach: Country-based teams used bibliographic searches, interviews with resource persons and field visits to identify cases. The inventory was developed iteratively according to a common analytical framework and guidelines inspired by the innovation system perspective.
Findings and practical implications: The completed inventory includes 57 documented cases, covering a wide diversity of experiences, in terms of types, domains, scales and timelines of
innovation. The inventory confirms the diversity of stakeholders involved in innovation, the diversity of innovation triggers and drivers, and the frequent occurrence of market-driven innovation. It also illustrates more original features: the typically long timeframes of innovation processes; the common occurrence of ‘innovation bundles’; and an often tight yet ambivalent relationship between innovation initiatives and externally funded projects. National teams faced several challenges during the inventory process, for example, in gaining a common understanding and making consistent use of key innovation-related concepts, and in accessing relevant
information, as some case holders were reluctant to share their experience freely.
Originality/value: The JOLISAA inventory contributes to illustrating that African agriculture is responding actively to the many challenges it faces. Documenting and sharing such a palpable dynamism may help to counter some of the pessimism and negative publicity that African agriculture usually attracts and to increase the motivation of many for making innovation happen across Africa.
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Papers by Jolanda van den Berg
Dutch business community in the vegetable oil industry’ from 2013 to 2015. Demand is rapidly
increasing for shea butter in cosmetics and food, derived from the oil rich nuts of the shea (Vitellaria
paradoxa) tree and for cashew nuts, seeds of the (Anacardium occidentale) tree, used mainly as a
food snack. A literature review, and interviews with 249 farmers and harvesters, processors, retailers,
exporters, 42 traditional leaders, exporters, government, research institutions, non-governmental and
civil society organisations and 17 focus group discussions were held between July and November
2014. The main findings are that rights to cashew and shea trees and their products differ greatly
between men and women. Whilst regulations governing access to land and trees in Burkina Faso and
Ghana do not discriminate between men and women, customary law governs in practice and do
differentiate. Shea is predominantly wild harvested and cashew is cultivated. Access to land for
cultivation is difficult for women in both countries. Land and tree tenure problems include a lack of
knowledge of formal laws, costs and difficulties to register land, and insecure customary tenure.
Benefits from participating in the value chains of these products have increased in both countries for
both men and women. How the income is distributed depends on whether the product comes from a
cultivated tree and if it was a joint, household or individual activity. Both sexes use the incomes from
selling raw and processed products to meet family needs, men tend to spend more on family
education and assets, women more on food. Women in cashew processing groups earn substantially
higher income. Although initiatives are ongoing in both countries, these have not had dramatic
impacts in the study areas. The main factors of success in improving gender equity in shea and
cashew chains are ensuring and securing access to land and trees for smallholders. This means
overcoming the significant cultural and associated financial barriers for women to own land and trees,
but also for smallholders to enlarge their land holdings, and supporting women to organise into groups
and improve the quantity and quality of processing. Further recommendations include raising
awareness among traditional leaders, village elders and male household heads of the potential of
women in agriculture and benefits for households; support for collective action and pilot activities, and
celebrating women’s - and men’s - successes to improve their participation in decision-making
processes in the value chains affecting them.
Approach: Country-based teams used bibliographic searches, interviews with resource persons and field visits to identify cases. The inventory was developed iteratively according to a common analytical framework and guidelines inspired by the innovation system perspective.
Findings and practical implications: The completed inventory includes 57 documented cases, covering a wide diversity of experiences, in terms of types, domains, scales and timelines of
innovation. The inventory confirms the diversity of stakeholders involved in innovation, the diversity of innovation triggers and drivers, and the frequent occurrence of market-driven innovation. It also illustrates more original features: the typically long timeframes of innovation processes; the common occurrence of ‘innovation bundles’; and an often tight yet ambivalent relationship between innovation initiatives and externally funded projects. National teams faced several challenges during the inventory process, for example, in gaining a common understanding and making consistent use of key innovation-related concepts, and in accessing relevant
information, as some case holders were reluctant to share their experience freely.
Originality/value: The JOLISAA inventory contributes to illustrating that African agriculture is responding actively to the many challenges it faces. Documenting and sharing such a palpable dynamism may help to counter some of the pessimism and negative publicity that African agriculture usually attracts and to increase the motivation of many for making innovation happen across Africa.
Dutch business community in the vegetable oil industry’ from 2013 to 2015. Demand is rapidly
increasing for shea butter in cosmetics and food, derived from the oil rich nuts of the shea (Vitellaria
paradoxa) tree and for cashew nuts, seeds of the (Anacardium occidentale) tree, used mainly as a
food snack. A literature review, and interviews with 249 farmers and harvesters, processors, retailers,
exporters, 42 traditional leaders, exporters, government, research institutions, non-governmental and
civil society organisations and 17 focus group discussions were held between July and November
2014. The main findings are that rights to cashew and shea trees and their products differ greatly
between men and women. Whilst regulations governing access to land and trees in Burkina Faso and
Ghana do not discriminate between men and women, customary law governs in practice and do
differentiate. Shea is predominantly wild harvested and cashew is cultivated. Access to land for
cultivation is difficult for women in both countries. Land and tree tenure problems include a lack of
knowledge of formal laws, costs and difficulties to register land, and insecure customary tenure.
Benefits from participating in the value chains of these products have increased in both countries for
both men and women. How the income is distributed depends on whether the product comes from a
cultivated tree and if it was a joint, household or individual activity. Both sexes use the incomes from
selling raw and processed products to meet family needs, men tend to spend more on family
education and assets, women more on food. Women in cashew processing groups earn substantially
higher income. Although initiatives are ongoing in both countries, these have not had dramatic
impacts in the study areas. The main factors of success in improving gender equity in shea and
cashew chains are ensuring and securing access to land and trees for smallholders. This means
overcoming the significant cultural and associated financial barriers for women to own land and trees,
but also for smallholders to enlarge their land holdings, and supporting women to organise into groups
and improve the quantity and quality of processing. Further recommendations include raising
awareness among traditional leaders, village elders and male household heads of the potential of
women in agriculture and benefits for households; support for collective action and pilot activities, and
celebrating women’s - and men’s - successes to improve their participation in decision-making
processes in the value chains affecting them.
Approach: Country-based teams used bibliographic searches, interviews with resource persons and field visits to identify cases. The inventory was developed iteratively according to a common analytical framework and guidelines inspired by the innovation system perspective.
Findings and practical implications: The completed inventory includes 57 documented cases, covering a wide diversity of experiences, in terms of types, domains, scales and timelines of
innovation. The inventory confirms the diversity of stakeholders involved in innovation, the diversity of innovation triggers and drivers, and the frequent occurrence of market-driven innovation. It also illustrates more original features: the typically long timeframes of innovation processes; the common occurrence of ‘innovation bundles’; and an often tight yet ambivalent relationship between innovation initiatives and externally funded projects. National teams faced several challenges during the inventory process, for example, in gaining a common understanding and making consistent use of key innovation-related concepts, and in accessing relevant
information, as some case holders were reluctant to share their experience freely.
Originality/value: The JOLISAA inventory contributes to illustrating that African agriculture is responding actively to the many challenges it faces. Documenting and sharing such a palpable dynamism may help to counter some of the pessimism and negative publicity that African agriculture usually attracts and to increase the motivation of many for making innovation happen across Africa.