PEARL Multidisciplinary Journal

Water Literacy among Rural Households in Kerala: A Study from Kannur District

Water as a basic human need is a limited natural resource and is very precious in nature. It is estimated that among 1360 million cubic kilometres available, only 0.2 million cubic kilometres is fresh water. In Kerala, 85 percent of drinking water needs are met from ground water. In recent decades human demand and misuse of water continuously increased and shortage of water is a global issue. The careless usage and less availability of water indicate the need for water literacy among people. The study revealed that rural households in Kerala are highly water literate and they ensured environmental sustainability as their responsibility.

Competitive Status of Africa’s Cocoa Products in the World Market

 To formulate efficient and articulated future cocoa policy prescriptions, and ensure the continuous contribution of the subsector to poverty reduction, income generation and growth of Africa’s agricultural sector, the present research empirically examined the global competitiveness of Africa’s cocoa export during the spanning period of 2000-2013. The used dated data were sourced from FAO and UNCTAD databases. Export trends and indices of the revealed comparative advantage, as well as Trade Mapping (TM), were examined for cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cocoa paste and cocoa powder/cake. Empirical findings showed that Africa has only revealed comparative and competitive advantages in the exportation of cocoa primary product and disadvantage in the comparative and competitive status in the exportation of its secondary cocoa products. Furthermore, Africa is among the winner group with it controlling a large chunk of the market despite the decline in the export market of cocoa during the studied period. Hence, in order to enhance Africa’s relative comparative and competitive advantages in the exportation of cocoa products and its continuing presence in the world markets, Africa should improve on the quality of its cocoa products keeping in-view the best marketing grade and standardization for cocoa products in the global market. Also, Africa should invest more in post-harvest technologies to have a breakthrough in the secondary sub-sectors of cocoa via value addition, thus increasing its global share in the market which in turn would enhance its foreign exchange earnings from the exportation of cocoa.

Bio-indicators for Impact Assessment of Radionuclides Contamination

The activity of important radionuclides ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K were analysed in twelve medicinal plants collected from Mangalore and surrounding region by gamma spectrometry. The activity in the representative soil sample is also measured in order to study the transfer of radionuclides from soil to plant. In plant the average values of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K activity were found to be 0.8 Bqkg^-1, 5.0 Bqkg^-1 and 37.1 Bqkg^-1 respectively. In soil the average values of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K activity were found to be 54.7 Bqkg^-1, 64.2 Bqkg^-1 and 384.3 Bqkg^-1 respectively. The average values of transfer coefficient for ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K were found to be 0.02, 0.08 and 0.10 respectively. The ²³²Th activity was below detection level for most of the plant samples, though the activity was significant in soils associated to these plants. The significant activity of ²²⁶Ra in both plant and associated soil shows the higher root uptake of this radionuclide from soil. All the plants and associated soils showed significant ⁴⁰K activity. The plant Mamia suregia showed higher transfer coefficient for all the three radionuclides. The plant can be used as bioindicator for the future monitoring of these radionuclides. The absorbed gamma dose rates prevailing in the study area were also measured using portable scintillometer. The results of these systematic investigations are presented and discussed in this paper.

The Future Outlook of Nigerian Agricultural Sector Growth in the Light of Global Financial Developments-Discourse for Nigeria Green Alternative

This empirical research investigated the future outlook of Nigerian Agricultural Sector Growth in the light of global financial developments using linear and symmetric price transmission mechanism model (ECM). The study made use of annual time series data covering GDP-Agriculture and its subsectors which spanned from 1990-2012. The findings showed that long-run association exit between agriculture and its sub-sectors with the mother sector establishing long-run equilibrium with its sub-sectors, though the convergence rate was moderate as indicated by the attractor coefficient. Furthermore, results showed that all the sub-sectors have positive influence on GDP-Agriculture with crop sub-sector having a lead influence when compared to other subsectors. Therefore, the study recommends that government should adopt adjustment strategies that hinges on shoring-up gross agriculture revenue to compensate for the dwindling oil revenues given that the prospect for the country economy depend on the policies articulated for the medium-to-long term and the seriousness with which they are implemented. 

Human Rights and Stigma Reduction in the Process of Rehabilitation of the Mentally Ill

Mentally ill persons are approached with stigma and families want to abandon them even in the wake of 21st century. It is a severe human right violation. However there are emerging models caring the destitute mentally ill with individual initiative and family collaboration who bring back the human right of the mentally ill person by removing stigma and caring them with dignity and worth. This paper is a case study of a rehabilitation centre at Kottayam in Kerala run by an ordinary person along with his family caring more than 300 mentally ill including children.

The objective of the study is to find out how the stigma reduction through a grass root community assistant rehabilitation model and enhance human right of the mentally ill persons. A qualitative design with case study methodology is followed.

The result shows that factors like acceptance of the persons with mentally ill as a family member calling him/her son/daughter and treating them so, allowing them the freedom of expression and interaction, exploring their innate abilities and host of others make them to cross the barriers of stigma. It gives back the human rights lost when they were thrown into the streets. The founder of the centre visits schools colleges, temples, churches and other community centres to disseminate information on mental health. The participants of such interaction program visit the rehabilitation center and understand how mental illness is just like any other chronic illness and spread the message back home. The entire process of community involvement enables to recreate a pro human right perspective towards persons with mental illness. Their dignity is regained; care and love in the centre as if in a family pitch their rights back in position. The entire process removes stigma about mentally ill persons and place them in a high position and prepare the society to own the responsibility to care these persons with cognitive deficits. Thus the care of mentally ill ultimately leads to stigma reduction and prepare the families and communities to accept and care the persons with mental illness. The entire process of stigma reduction contributes to the promotion of human rights of the mentally ill person and creates a model of right based care and rehabilitation of the persons with mental illness.