Fiona Marshall
University of Sussex, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, Faculty Member
The impacts of urbanisation on ecosystems and the dependence of urban populations on ecosystem services are widely acknowledged but poorly understood. In the Global South, rural–urban linkages are increasingly shaped and transformed by... more
The impacts of urbanisation on ecosystems and the dependence of urban populations on ecosystem services are widely acknowledged but poorly understood. In the Global South, rural–urban linkages are increasingly shaped and transformed by the processes of peri-urbanisation, through which rural areas become increasingly enmeshed in a mosaic of rural and urban land use and juxtaposed rural and urban livelihoods and overlapping institutions. Peri-urban areas are frontiers of sustainability transformations, where deep and sustained engagement with communities of the poor, and enhanced understanding of dynamic ecosystem service-poverty alleviation interactions, can reveal possibilities to improve the health and livelihoods of both urban and peri-urban residents, whilst also supporting more effective, efficient and equitable management of environmental resources. We demonstrate this through an example of peri-urban food systems in the outskirts of Delhi, India.
Research Interests: Geography, Ecosystem Services, Poverty, Sustainable Development, Environmental Management, and 13 moreAgriculture, Environmental Planning, Urbanization, Food Security, Livelihood, GE, Urban areas, Rural communities, Environmental legislation, Living Standards, Sustainability, GF, and economic aspects
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The impacts of air pollution have long been recognised as an issue of concern both in North America and western Europe, where research has provided extensive information on the responses of a number of crop species and air pollutants.... more
The impacts of air pollution have long been recognised as an issue of concern both in North America and western Europe, where research has provided extensive information on the responses of a number of crop species and air pollutants. National crop loss assessments clearly show that, although pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and fluorides may have significant local impacts on crop production, the air pollutant which is most important in terms of regional or national economic impacts on agriculture is ozone. This is because ozone may be found in high concentrations over large agricultural regions and even in remote rural areas (UK PORG, 1993).
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Ecosystem services have a vital role to play in plans and policies to address poverty and vulnerability, support local economies, protect against shocks and stresses, promote food security and safeguard health and wellbeing. Despite... more
Ecosystem services have a vital role to play in plans and policies to address poverty and vulnerability, support local economies, protect against shocks and stresses, promote food security and safeguard health and wellbeing. Despite policy challenges and rapid, complex change, there are opportunities for local authorities and citizens to work together more to spread good practice and join up policy with groundlevel action.
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Transitional peri-urban contexts are frontiers for sustainable development where land-use change involves negotiation and contestation between diverse interest groups. Multiple, complex trade-offs between outcomes emerge which have both... more
Transitional peri-urban contexts are frontiers for sustainable development where land-use change involves negotiation and contestation between diverse interest groups. Multiple, complex trade-offs between outcomes emerge which have both negative and positive impacts on progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These trade-offs are often overlooked in policy and planning processes which depend on top-down expert perspectives and rely on course grain aggregate data which does not reflect complex peri-urban dynamics or the rapid pace of change. Tools are required to address this gap, integrate data from diverse perspectives and inform more inclusive planning processes. In this paper, we draw on a reinterpretation of empirical data concerned with land-use change and multiple dimensions of food security from the city of Wuhan in China to illustrate some of the complex trade-offs between SDG goals that tend to be overlooked with current planning approaches. We then ...
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The government of Rwanda is promoting agricultural intensification focused on the production of a small number of targeted commodities as a central strategy to pursue the joint policy goals of economic growth, food security and livelihood... more
The government of Rwanda is promoting agricultural intensification focused on the production of a small number of targeted commodities as a central strategy to pursue the joint policy goals of economic growth, food security and livelihood development. The dominant approach to increase the productive capacity of the land, crops and animal resources has been through large-scale land consolidation, soil fertility management, and the intensive use of biotechnology and external inputs. However, evidence has shown that many Rwandan farmers, who employ various strategies and mixed farming practices based on their specific economic, social, and environmental circumstances, face difficulties adopting the singular prescribed approach to become more productive, modern commodity producers. To empirically explore diversity in smallholders’ strategies and their contributions to livelihoods and compatibility with the recent intensification policies, we conducted household surveys and in-depth qual...
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It has long been recognized that investment is needed to build capacity in Science Technology and Innovation (STI) particularly in low and medium income (LMI) countries. Yet there is little understanding as to how to do this. The... more
It has long been recognized that investment is needed to build capacity in Science Technology and Innovation (STI) particularly in low and medium income (LMI) countries. Yet there is little understanding as to how to do this. The combination of a) the use of research and innovation policy frameworks more aligned with High-Income Countries rather than LMI country social and economic environments and b) new commitments in many SSA countries to using research and innovation to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mean that we need to develop new practical conceptual policy frameworks to guide future research and innovation investments that are more deeply embedded, sustainable and locally owned than was perhaps the case in the past. In relation to that need, a pilot research project is developing a new framework rooted in knowledge systems (KS) perspectives. Conceptually, a practical knowledge system approach offers potential to provide a more comprehensive understanding of sc...
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The material presented here is an output from research projects funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID.... more
The material presented here is an output from research projects funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID. R6289 and R6992 Environment Research Programme. I acknowledge the contribution to this research of many colleagues including: Nigel Bell, Simon Croxton, John Stonehouse, Madhoolika Agrawal, Neela Mukherjee (the participatory research team and farming communities in 28 villages around Delhi and Varanasi) D S Bhupal, Rana P B Singh, C Chandra Sen and Ravi Agrawa.
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There is a growing international consensus that cities must form the vanguard in addressing the numerous challenges of sustainable development (ICLEI, 2015; UN, 2016). Sustainability is also an essential ingredient for a globally... more
There is a growing international consensus that cities must form the vanguard in addressing the numerous challenges of sustainable development (ICLEI, 2015; UN, 2016). Sustainability is also an essential ingredient for a globally competitive city. However, in rapidly growing cities of South Asia, governments and international agencies must not simply think of cities as urban islands. Cities must be understood in terms of the processes of urbanisation which unfold across the rural-urban continuum, with environmental processes integral. We argue that failure to do so is undermining the ability to build inclusive and resilient cities.
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Quality assurance initiatives for peri-urban food production in India Nigel Poole Dept of Agricultural Sciences, Imperial College at Wye, Wye, Ashford, Kent TN25 5AH, UK Tel: +44 207 564 2863 Email: n.poole@ic.ac.uk DS Bhupal Agricultural... more
Quality assurance initiatives for peri-urban food production in India Nigel Poole Dept of Agricultural Sciences, Imperial College at Wye, Wye, Ashford, Kent TN25 5AH, UK Tel: +44 207 564 2863 Email: n.poole@ic.ac.uk DS Bhupal Agricultural Economics and Research Centre, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi 110007, India Tel: +91 11 725 648 Email: dsbhupal@yahoo.com Fiona Marshall and Dolf te Lintelo Dept of Env. Science and Technology, Imperial College, Silwood Park, Berks SL5 7PY, UK Tel: +44 1344 294213 Email: f.marshall@ic.ac.uk Email d.telintelo@ic.ac.uk
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Realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require transformative changes at micro, meso and macro levels and across diverse geographies. Collaborative, transdisciplinary research has a role to play in documenting,... more
Realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require transformative changes at micro, meso and macro levels and across diverse geographies. Collaborative, transdisciplinary research has a role to play in documenting, understanding and contributing to such transformations. Previous work has investigated the role of this research in Europe and North America, however the dynamics of transdisciplinary research on ‘transformations to sustainability’ in other parts of the world are less well-understood. This paper reports on an international project that involved transdisciplinary research in six different hubs across the globe and was strategically designed to enable mutual learning and exchange. It draws on surveys, reports and research outputs to analyse the processes of transdisciplinary collaboration for sustainability that took place between 2015–2019. The paper illustrates how the project was structured in order to enable learning across disciplines, cultures and context...
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Realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require transformative changes at micro, meso and macro levels and across diverse geographies. Collaborative, transdisciplinary research has a role to play in documenting,... more
Realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require transformative changes at micro, meso and macro levels and across diverse geographies. Collaborative, transdisciplinary research has a role to play in documenting, understanding and contributing to such transformations. Previous work has investigated the role of this research in Europe and North America, however the dynamics of transdisciplinary research on 'transformations to sustainability' in other parts of the world are less well-understood. This paper reports on an international project that involved transdisciplinary research in six different hubs across the globe and was strategically designed to enable mutual learning and exchange. It draws on surveys, reports and research outputs to analyse the processes of transdisciplinary collaboration for sustainability that took place between 2015-2019. The paper illustrates how the project was structured in order to enable learning across disciplines, cultures and...
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Abstract: The levels of air pollutants are increasing in many 'megacities' of the developing world. Air pollution can both the yield and nutritional quality of crop plants, and is also a major source of particulate contaminants... more
Abstract: The levels of air pollutants are increasing in many 'megacities' of the developing world. Air pollution can both the yield and nutritional quality of crop plants, and is also a major source of particulate contaminants that can accumulate at toxic levels in the edible ...
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Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Air Quality, United Nations, Risk assessment, Atmospheric sciences, and 12 moreCopper, Regional scale, Field Study, Fruit Production, Risk Assessment, Air Pollutants, Adverse effect, Sulphur dioxide, Atmospheric Environment, agricultural land, Critical level, and High risk
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In India, peri-urban areas are too often neglected. Many people live in poverty and face increasing marginalisation and food insecurity. Yet peri-urban agriculture could be a major contributor to poverty alleviation and food security.... more
In India, peri-urban areas are too often neglected. Many people live in poverty and face increasing marginalisation and food insecurity. Yet peri-urban agriculture could be a major contributor to poverty alleviation and food security. This working paper examines rural-urban transformations in India in relation to changes in food production, access, consumption, nutritional quality and safety. To improve health and nutrition, a more holistic, food security-based perspective is needed. Policy and planning must support those fragile communities engaged in peri-urban agriculture while protecting the environmental services on which they depend. It also discusses examples of specific policies and programmes and considers knowledge gaps, governance challenges and mechanisms that might help facilitate pro-poor food security developments on the ground.
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This paper examines the intersection between environmental pollution and people's acknowledgements of, and responses to, health issues in Karhera, a former agricultural village situated between the rapidly expanding cities of New... more
This paper examines the intersection between environmental pollution and people's acknowledgements of, and responses to, health issues in Karhera, a former agricultural village situated between the rapidly expanding cities of New Delhi (India's capital) and Ghaziabad (an industrial district in Uttar Pradesh). A relational place-based view is integrated with an interpretive approach, highlighting the significance of place, people's emic experiences, and the creation of meaning through social interactions. Research included surveying 1788 households, in-depth interviews, participatory mapping exercises, and a review of media articles on environment, pollution, and health. Karhera experiences both domestic pollution, through the use of domestic waste water, or gandapani, for vegetable irrigation, and industrial pollution through factories' emissions into both the air and water. The paper shows that there is no uniform articulation of any environment/health threats assoc...
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... of the soil, such as pH, organic matter, etc., which change the solubility of metals and thus availability to the plants (Singh and Agrawal ... The bioavailability of metals in the soil, translocation to the edible portion and growth... more
... of the soil, such as pH, organic matter, etc., which change the solubility of metals and thus availability to the plants (Singh and Agrawal ... The bioavailability of metals in the soil, translocation to the edible portion and growth and yield of palak (Beta vulgaris L.) were also assessed ...
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Research Interests: Water and Governance
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Enhancing food chain integrity: quality assurance mechanisms for air pollution impacts on fruit and vegetable systems. 6 pp. Proceedings of a workshop on Enhancing food chain integrity: quality assurance mechanisms for air pollution impacts on fruit and vegetable systems, Meeting on the future st...more