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Crop Diversification as a Smallholder Livelihood Strategy within Semi-Arid Agricultural Systems near Mount Kenya
... Yet, farm production diversification, defined here as the adoption of a wide range of crop and/or livestock species, is often considered a beneficial strategy to increase the availability of a wide range of nutrients and food security (Remans et al., 2014;Jones, 2017;Bezner Kerr et al., 2021). There is also evidence of the multiple benefits provided by agricultural diversification strategies at farm scale on production and productivity stability (Beillouin et al., 2019;Renard and Tilman, 2019;Rosa-Schleich et al., 2019), climatic and market risks adaptation (Bezabih and Sarr, 2012;McCord et al., 2015;Bozzola and Smale, 2020), the provision of ecosystem services (Kremen and Miles, 2012;Tamburini et al., 2020;Wood et al., 2015) and finally the conservation of genetic resources (Brush and Perales, 2007). ...
... We created 12 different crop groups, consistent across the surveys: cereals and pseudo-cereals, flowers, fodder crops, fruit/fruit trees, legumes, non-food trees/shrubs, nuts, oilseeds, roots and tubers, spices/herbs, sugar-rich and vegetables (Table A2). Therefore, a household growing rice, maize (both cereals) and papaya (fruit) would have a crop group diversity of 2. Measuring crop diversity in terms of commodity groups instead of individual crop species also accounts for the different functions provided in terms of nutritional diversity availability (Jones et al., 2014;Bergau et al., 2022) and agroecological services (McCord et al., 2015). For livestock diversity, we count the number of different livestock species on the farm. ...
... The geographical spread in the survey data allowed us to compare households from different climatic and agroecological regions. As only 50% of the farms analysed use irrigation, the positive effect of total annual rainfall may indicate that more precipitation allows for greater diversity via increased water availability and the opportunity to grow different types of crops, as explained in previous studies (McCord et al., 2015;Bhatta et al., 2016). The analysis of the effect of rainfall variability on farm diversity, between and within years, also produced interesting results and considerations. ...
South and Southeast Asia host almost half of the world’s undernourished people. Food and agricultural systems in these regions are highly dependent on the production and consumption of staple cereals such as rice, maize and wheat. More diverse farming systems can potentially improve rural people’s nutrition, while reducing the environmental impact of agriculture. Yet, it remains uncertain whether farm diversification is always the most suitable and viable strategy for all types of smallholder farms.
We use generalised linear regression models to analyse the farm diversification strategies of 4772 rural households in Cambodia, India, Lao PDR and Vietnam. Our analysis is twofold and focuses first on drivers of farm diversification, and second, on the impacts of farm diversification and other livelihood strategies on dietary diversity.
We find that (1) farm diversification is significantly influenced by environmental and climate variables, including rainfall patterns, as well as household and farm characteristics such as farm size and education level; and (2) farm diversification, market orientation and off-farm income generation are all strategies that can improve household and individual dietary diversity. However, their relative effects resulted influenced by farm size. Specifically, the positive effect of farm diversification on dietary diversity was larger for smaller farms, while it decreased for farms of larger size that may improve their diet more by increasing their engagement in off-farm activities and markets. These findings highlight that characteristics such as farm size can represent substantial determinants in production and consumption decisions, suggesting the importance of understanding and considering the type of farm and the situational context of analysis when targeting interventions for improving smallholder farm livelihoods.
... Above all, this impacts rural areas in countries of the Global South whose highly vulnerable populations have very limited scope for implementing local adaptation measures. Diversified farming systems, or crop diversification, have been discussed as one adaptation strategy for both market-oriented and subsistence-oriented smallholder farming households to reduce their livelihood vulnerability and increase the resilience of farm system against the effects of climate change and other external stressors (Lin, 2011;McCord et al., 2015;Rigg and Vandergeest, 2012;Trincsi et al., 2014). We understand crops as plant or animal products cultivated by farmers for sale on the market or for subsistence. ...
... Kabir et al., 2017;Molitor et al., 2017;Moniruzzaman, 2015;see McCord et al., 2015 for a more detailed review). Some arguments maintain that one of the major advantages of crop diversification is an improvement in the overall functionality of agroecosystems and resilience by creating redundancies in the system (McCord et al., 2015;Lin, 2011). Specifically, this includes an increase in biodiversity, improved soil quality, water-holding capacity, and weed and pest control (e.g. ...
... Kremen and Miles, 2012;Lei et al., 2016). Additional evidence has shown that diversified cropping systems can provide buffers against unfavourable market events such as price fluctuationslinked to oversupply, for exampleand help boost incomes by increasing the variety of crops that can be sold on markets (Herrero et al., 2014;Lei et al., 2016;McCord et al., 2015). In short, crop diversification overall seems socially, environmentally, and economically superior to systems based primarily on monocropping (Andreoni and Duriavig, 2013). ...
Environmental stressors, potentially aggravated by climate change, pose significant challenges to households whose livelihoods rely primarily on crop production in agriculture or aquaculture, particularly in countries of the Global South. In this context, diversified farming systems, or crop diversification, have been discussed as one adaptation strategy of smallholder farming households to reduce their livelihood vulnerability and increase farm resilience. In coastal Bangladesh, livelihoods based on cultivation of shrimp, prawn, fish, paddy (rice) and other crops are likely to become more vulnerable with accelerated sea level rise, extreme flooding events, cyclone activity, river bank erosion and salinization. While crop diversification in Bangladesh is still low overall, it has been increasing. To understand the factors driving the uptake of diversified cropping in different farming production contexts and allow for policy measures addressing regionally specific needs, we explore the (relative) impact and significance of relevant factors contributing to the adoption of crop diversification practices for (i) shrimp cultivation and (ii) agricultural crop farming zones. We specifically include variables representing subjectively perceived risks to study their role in climate change adaptation. Our findings are based on a quantitative household survey (n = 1188) in nine purposefully selected unions across the Bangaleshi part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta to capture the diversity of the region. Our results show that the prevalence of crop diversification measures is relatively high in the shrimp cultivation zone, but relatively low in the agricultural crop farming regions. In sum, the results show that even though direct economic factors seem to be (still) more important for diversification decisions, our study also suggests that perceived environmental threats and changes can have a favourable influence on crop diversification and should hence be included in studies investigating causes for land use changes. Yet, there are significant differences with regard to the influence of specific factors on the likelihood to diversify in the two respective zones. We conclude that greater uptakes of agriculture and aquaculture diversification could represent a promising and more sustainable approach for smallholders in coastal Bangladesh given appropriate supportive institutional conditions and measures that address specific needs of local communities. A “one-size-fits-all” approach to pushing crop diversification is unlikely to produce adequate and sustainable results.
... Crop diversification stands out as one of the most favored climate change adaptation strategies among farmers, garnering extensive attention in research, particularly in regions characterized by pronounced climate variability (Khan et al., 2020;Makate et al., 2016;McCord et al., 2015;Ochieng et al., 2020). The primary goal of crop diversification is to enhance the crop diversity of agricultural lands, encompassing the genetic diversity of crop species, the number of crop planting species, and crop planting area. 1 The approach involves various agricultural behaviors, such as crop rotation, mixed cropping, intercropping, and agroforestry (Hufnagel et al., 2020;Malaiarasan et al., 2021). ...
... Furthermore, from an economic perspective, crop diversification can mitigate income fluctuations resulting from changes in the price of a single crop, ensuring stable incomes through diverse crop combinations to support farmers adapting to climate change (Mzyece & Ng'ombe, 2021). McCord et al. (2015) investigated the crucial role of crop diversification in semi-arid mountain agriculture in Kenya. Ponce (2020) found that farmers in the Peruvian Andes respond to increased climate variability by enhancing crop diversity. ...
Crop diversification is a critical adaptation strategy for farmers to cope with climate change, but with the protection of policy measures, farmers might forego pursuing crop diversification. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the impact of policy measures on crop diversification, especially in regions with severe climate change. This study field surveyed 684 rural households on the Tibetan Plateau to obtain the implementation of policy measures and the level of crop diversification. By using the Tobit regression model, the impact of policy measures on crop diversification was explored. The results indicated that climate change promoted the adoption of crop diversification by farmers; however, the effect reversed when interacting with policy measures such as non-agricultural subsidies, low-interest loans, and agricultural technique training. This finding can help adjust policy measures in other regions severely affected by climate change and establish effective connections between governments and farmers to improve climate adaptation capabilities.
... The farming communities should undertake an autonomous adaptation (Rahman and Hickey, 2019;Khan et al., 2021) to minimize the potential impacts of climate variability and change. Among these practices, use of drought resistant crop varieties (Anik et al., 2021;Marie et al., 2020;Ponce, 2020;Bedeke et al., 2019;Kebede et al., 2019), crop diversification (Antwi-Agyei et al., 2021;Asfaw et al., 2018;Simotwo et al., 2018;McCord et al., 2015); crop rotation (Mairura et al., 2021); use of irrigation technologies (Antwi-Agyei et al., 2021;Ureta et al., 2020); use of improved livestock breeds (Faisal et al., 2021;Zhao et al., 2018); shifting to non-farm income activities (Marie et al., 2020); adjusting planting dates (Ponce, 2020;Jamshidi et al., 2019;Masud et al., 2017); and micro-insurance (Antwi-Agyei et al., 2014;Brouwer and Akter, 2010), are some of the common coping up strategies indicated in the literature. Assessing how the farming communities are responding to the impacts of climate change impacts provides important information for policymakers. ...
... The majority of the households perceived crop diversification, crop rotation, and the use of drought-resistant crops to be most important in addressing food insecurity and poverty alleviation. According to Asfaw et al. (2018) and McCord et al. (2015), crop diversification is one of the key strategies to adapt to climate change. Other researchers such as Antwi-Agyei et al. (2021) and Ureta et al. (2020) described the role of irrigation technologies in minimizing the adverse impacts of climate change. ...
Climate change adaptation is critical for sustainable livelihood in developing countries like Ethiopia where rainfed agriculture is the major economic sector. Cross-sectional data from 442 individuals were collected from the farming communities in southwestern parts of Ethiopia using a multi-stage sampling technique. Multivariate probit model, weighted average index (WAI), and the problem confrontation index (PCI) techniques were applied to identify factors that influence the household decision to adapt to climate change, major adaptation options, and existing barriers, respectively. The results of the multivariate probit model show that access to agricultural extension services, access to climate information, rainfall pattern change, and crop loss were the major factors that influence household decisions to adapt to climate change. Access to agricultural extension services and
access to climate information were the key factors that enabled farmers to adopt different adaptation strategies. The male household headship and early onset of rains variables do not influence the household decision to adapt to climate change. Notably, the farming communities use various adaptation strategies to overcome the negative impacts of climate change on their livelihoods. The problem confrontation index results revealed that lack of irrigation facilities, high cost of farm inputs, and infertile soils were the major barriers identified in this study. Thus, strong institutional support is required to overcome the barriers that hinder the farming communities to adapt to climate change.
... Conservation agriculture, integrated soil fertility management, small-scale irrigation, agroforestry, and crop diversification are the common CSA technologies practiced at smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia [17,18]. Climate smart agriculture (CSA) contributes to agricultural production, resilience to climate change, and climate change mitigation [14,[19][20][21][22][23][24]. Crop yield has been shown to increase by 30-45% under CSA practices [11]. ...
... To increase productivity and stability of ecosystem services, CD is the deliberate addition of functional biodiversity at the temporal and/or geographical levels [20]. One method that households might utilize to lessen their susceptibility to external stresses such as climate change is CD. ...
Agriculture is a sector that is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change while contributing to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. Therefore, applying Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices (referee hereafter as CSA technologies) that can sustainably boost productivity, improve resilience, and lower GHG emissions are crucial for a climate resilient agriculture. This study sought to identify the CSA technologies used by farmers and assess adoption levels and factors that influence them. A cross-sectional survey was carried out gather information from 384 smallholder farmers in the Great Rift Valley (GRV) of Ethiopia. Data were analyzed using percentage, chi-square test, t test, and the multivariate probit model. Results showed that crop diversification, agroforestry, and integrated soil fertility management were the most widely practiced technologies. The results of the chi-square and t tests showed that there are differences and significant and positive connections between adopters and non-adopters based on various attributes. The chi-square and t test results confirmed that households who were older and who had higher incomes, greater credit access, climate information access, better training, better education, larger farms, higher incomes, and more frequent interactions with extension specialists had positive and significant associations with CSA technology adopters. The model result showed that age, sex, and education of the head; farmland size; livestock ownership; income; access to credit; access to climate information; training; and extension contact influenced the adoption of CSA technologies. Therefore, considering barriers to the adoption of CSA technologies, in policy and action is anticipated to support smallholder farmers in adapting to climate change while lowering GHG emissions.
... Crop diversity declination pose a considerable strain on the natural resources, environment, labor, market, machinery availability, and socioeconomic conditions of farmers [32]. The CDI maps in Fig. 6 and VII indicates low diversity in northern Telangana zone (0.28-0.31), attributed to better irrigation facilities promoting rice cultivation and reducing other crop cultivation. ...
Aim: In this study, crop diversity in Telangana during the Yasangi season (October to May) from 2017 to 2022 was assessed at the mandal level using crop area data resultant from remote sensing. Place and Duration of Study: Telangana, from 2017-18 to 2021-22. Methodology: Sentinel 2A and 2B MSI L2A satellite products were processed to obtain time series normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images. Major rabi crops were identified by extracting pure cropped pixels based on ground truth data using the NDVI composite index, which includes temporal profiling of NDVI values over time. A hybrid method, combining phenology-based decision rules and unsupervised classification, was employed to demarcate rabi crop area. Results: The cropped area estimates from remote sensing showed a strong positive correlation with data provided by government agencies. To asses agricultural diversification at the mandal level, the Gibbs and Martin formula (1962) of crop diversification index was used to generate the crop diversity index, focusing solely on the net planted area of crops during rabi season. The Crop Diversity Index (CDI) values reveal low diversity in Telangana, primarily due to paddy monocropping. This reliance on a single crop can lead to soil depletion and increased pest problems. Conclusion: Our findings underscore the environmental and economic impacts of monoculture. Policymakers should encourage farmers to diversify their crops, incorporating less water-intensive options like groundnut, sunflower and chickpea to improve yields, soil fertility and reduce environmental impact. Enhancing irrigation infrastructure to support diverse crops and ensuring equitable water distribution can help reduce the dominance of paddy and promote sustainable agriculture. Supporting research and development in crop diversity and sustainable farming techniques, along with educational campaigns, can lead to more resilient and economically viable farming practices.
... However, the various needs of farmers for regional plant genetic resources have been disregarded for decades (Hawkes et al., 2012). As a result, diversity-based agriculture requires a variety of natural landscape microhabitats in order to grow a variety of crops while lowering the risk of crop failure (McCord et al., 2015). Biological diversity provides a wide range of materials needed for human food, fiber, medicine, and industries. ...
Various agricultural crops are the world's sources of food, fodder, and energy. However, conservation management and diversification constraints remain a challenge. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the status of local agricultural sorghum genetic diversity and potential determinants of the Wollo lowlands in northeastern Ethiopia. The greatest extent of local sorghum abundance was demonstrated in the study areas with the highest value being 4.25 DMg and 2.89 DMn in Werebabo district. However, 2.97 DMg and 2.04 DMn were recorded as the relatively lowest indices in Tehuledere province. In fact, the extent and type of diversity, measured by the number of varieties per farm, varied from region to region. Farmer perceived constraints such as late maturity, blending fluency, distance to nearest market (km), small land ownership, end‐use quality, and plume size attributed to these deviations. The priority of the constraints was first determined by ranking the constraints based on the answers received from the respondents and then calculating the rank‐based quotient. Several categorical variables of these constraints also showed a significant association with the status of local farm sorghum genetic diversity at p < 0.05 and p < 0.001. In general, the status of genetic diversity of local sorghum farms was low in all the provinces studied. Therefore, the seed exchange network between local farmers should be encouraged to use and conserve diversity on a daily basis. Community seed banks should also be established to enhance the conservation of beneficial local sorghum germplasm and maximize locally adapted sorghum landrace profiles.
... Several scholars have studied the influencing factors of farmers' adoption of conservation tillage and individual characteristics (such as farmers' education level, risk preference, ecological cognition), household endowments (such as income level, cultivation scale), environmental factors (such as soil type), and government compensation affecting farmers' adoption behavior of conservation tillage [8][9][10][11][12]. Wollni et al. (2010) [13] empirically analyzed the effect of organic agricultural markets on conservation tillage adoption and found that market demand expansion has an inducing impact on farmers' conservation tillage adoption. ...
To solve the problem of the insufficient driving force and low adoption rate of conservation tillage adoption and to enhance the effect of industrial organization in influencing technology diffusion, this paper explored the relationship and the mechanism of perceived organizational support and inter-temporal choice in the adoption of conservation tillage by using micro-research data from 725 melon farmers in the Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces in China and by applying the experimental economics method to obtain the inter-temporal choices of the farmers. This paper also analyzed farmers’ risk preferences’ moderating effect on the relationship between inter-temporal choice and conservation tillage. Additionally, it examined the impact of perceived organizational support on the differentiation of different conservation tillage technologies. The study found that perceived organizational support significantly contributes to adopting zero tillage and minimum tillage, and water-saving irrigation. Perceived organizational support was not conducive to farmers’ adoption of furrow and ridge tillage. The impact of perceived organizational support on technology adoption is heterogeneous, depending on the differences in the size of the family’s cultivated land. The inter-temporal choice of farmers significantly impedes the adoption of conservation tillage. The increase in risk preference helps alleviate the hindering effect of inter-temporal choice on farmers’ adoption of conservation tillage. Perceived organizational support can promote the adoption of conservation tillage by reducing farmers’ inter-temporal choices. Inter-temporal choice is an essential mechanism by which perceived organizational support affects the adoption of conservation tillage. Compared with the existing studies, this paper incorporates the technology-attribute-induced inter-temporal choice of farmers into the impact analysis framework and considers the relationship between perceived organizational support, inter-temporal choice, and the adoption of conservation tillage and the mechanism of its action. The findings of the study provide a theoretical basis for the enrichment of incentive mechanisms for the adoption of conservation tillage, which is of great significance for the improvement of the tool for the integration of small farmers in developing countries into the industrial activities of the new agricultural business central bodies and for promoting the diffusion of conservation tillage in agriculture.
... The idea is to plant several food crops in the same holes and furrows (Dixon et al., 2021). This is also reported by McCord et al. (2015), who stated that the diversification of crops is a strategy adopted by small land holding farmers to reduce their vulnerability. Benu et al. (2011) mentioned that local farmers commonly utilise seeds they secure from previous harvests. ...
Although Indonesia has recorded good performance in its national economic development, especially in the agriculture sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on farming and food systems has not been evaluated yet. This study has evaluated the resilience of the two dominant existing farming systems in West Timor, i.e. (i) wetland farming system and (ii) dryland farming system. This research aims to understand the resilience of farming after the Covid-19 pandemic and to develop strategic policies that could be adopted to increase the resilience of the farming system in West Timor. A quantitative analysis using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to evaluate the relationship and impact of the following seven generic aspects: labour movement, sustainability, economy, socio- culture, output markets, input markets, farming system resilience, and 27 reflective indicators. The analysis shows that dryland farming systems are more resilient than wetland farming systems. It might be understood from the size of the regression coefficient, as the impact of exogenous construct variables of the environment, socioculture, input, and output on the resilience of dryland farming systems is more significant than on wetlands. Economic performance rather than labour movement factors will create better resilience of farming systems for wetland or dryland after the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, the economic recovery process and the ongoing input supply mechanism after the Covid-19 pandemic have increased the resilience of the dryland food system more than the resilience of the wetland farming system.
... The inter-cropping system in southern Ghana functions as a risk-copping strategy against poorly functioning markets. For example, aside from their cultural significance (Hoffmann and Gatobu 2014), diversified cropping systems reduce farmers' vulnerability to market and climate variability (McCord et al. 2015) and contribute to household dietary diversity. According to the research participants, the disappearance of cropping diversity due to their replacement with rubber plantations and settlements will result in the erosion of the multifunctional capacity of the landscape. ...
Settlement expansion and commercial agriculture affect landscape sustainability and ecosystem service provision. Integrated landscape approaches are promoted to negotiate trade-offs between competing land uses and their reconciliation. Incorporating local perceptions of landscape dynamics as basis for such negotiations is particularly relevant for sub-Saharan Africa, where most people depend on natural ecosystems for livelihoods and well-being. This study applied participatory scenario building and spatially explicit simulation to unravel perceptions of the potential impact of rubber and settlement expansion on the provision of selected ecosystem services in southwestern Ghana under a business-as-usual scenario. We collected data in workshops and expert surveys on locally relevant ecosystem services, their indicator values, and the probable land-use transitions. The data was translated into an assessment matrix and integrated into a spatially explicit modeling platform, allowing visualization and comparison of the impact on ecosystem service provision of land-use scenarios under rubber plantation and settlement expansion. The results show the capacity of current (2020) and future land-use patterns to provide locally relevant ecosystem services, indicating a decline in capacity of ecosystem service provisioning in the future compared to the 2020 land-use patterns, a threat to the benefits humans derive from ecosystems. This highlights urgent need for policies and measures to control the drivers of land-use/land-cover change. Furthermore, the results emphasize the importance of diversifying land-use/land-cover types for sustainable landscape development. The paper contributes new insights into how spatially explicit and semi-quantitative methods can make stakeholder perceptions of landscape dynamics explicit as a basis for implementing integrated landscape approaches.
... Aniah et al., (2019) reported from Kenya that various cropping, on-farm, and off-farm adaptation strategies were used by the smallholders to ameliorate the negative impacts of climate and ecological changes on their livelihood. McCord et al., (2015) have reported from Kenya that the smallholders have changed their cropping pattern under the stress of climate change. ...
This study was conducted in three randomly selected districts viz. Vehari, Faisalabad, and Narowal of the Punjab province to examine the determinants of livelihood diversification. Using multistage sampling 480 respondents were interviewed face to face using a structured questionnaire and were analyzed by SPSS (version 21). The major findings reveal that most of the smallholders, i.e., 126 (26.3%), relied on cropping and off-farm livelihood diversification strategies to sustain their household income. The structural determinant factors were identified as “push factors” while household/domestic determinant factors were identified as “pull factors” of livelihood diversification. Moreover, the results of the multiple linear regression model unveiled that household’s choice and adoption of livelihood diversification strategies were positively affected by age, level of education, livestock holding status, access to credit, extension contacts, and income while gender, landholding size, access to irrigation, access to mass media, and crop risk were negatively affected. The study concludes that both structural and household determinants of livelihood diversification contribute positively to improving the smallholders' household well-being and keeping them away from vulnerabilities. The study findings have implications for policymakers and development practitioners who are working to improve the livelihoods of smallholders in the Punjab province, Pakistan.
... The idea is to plant several food crops in the same holes and furrows (Dixon et al., 2021). This is also reported by McCord et al. (2015), who stated that the diversification of crops is a strategy adopted by small land holding farmers to reduce their vulnerability. Benu et al. (2011) mentioned that local farmers commonly utilise seeds they secure from previous harvests. ...
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Highlights • Comparison of the resilience of wetland and dryland farming systems after the Covid-19 pandemic. • SEM was employed to evaluate the resilience of wetland and dryland farming systems. • Dryland farming system is more resilient than wetland farming system. • Economic performance is a significant factor that will create better farming system resilience. • The economic recovery and farming inputs supply have increased the resilience of dryland farming systems. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: Although Indonesia has recorded good performance in its national economic development, especially in the agriculture sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on farming and food systems has not been evaluated yet. This study has evaluated the resilience of the two dominant existing farming systems in West Timor, i.e. (i) wetland farming system and (ii) dryland farming system. This research aims to understand the resilience of farming after the Covid-19 pandemic and to develop strategic policies that could be adopted to increase the resilience of the farming system in West Timor. A quantitative analysis using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to evaluate the relationship and impact of the following seven generic aspects: labour movement, sustainability, economy, socio-culture, output markets, input markets, farming system resilience, and 27 reflective indicators. The analysis shows that dryland farming systems are more resilient than wetland farming systems. It might be understood from the size of the regression coefficient, as the impact of exogenous construct variables of the environment, socioculture, input, and output on the resilience of dryland farming systems is more significant than on wetlands. Economic performance rather than labour movement factors will create better resilience of farming systems for wetland or dryland after the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, the economic recovery process and the ongoing input supply mechanism after the Covid-19 pandemic have increased the resilience of the dryland food system more than the resilience of the wetland farming system.
... The aridity values in the catchment change drastically between the upstream (humid) zone and downstream (semi-170 arid/arid) zone within a short distance of 40 to 50 Km (i.e. distance from the forested water tower to dry (McCord et al., 2015;Ngigi et al., 2007). The changes in the downstream water availability are attributed to the river water abstractions in the upstream zone (e.g. ...
Water-related conflicts in river catchments occur due to both internal and external pressures that affect catchment water availability. Lack of shared understanding by catchment stakeholders increase the complexity of human-water issues at the river catchment scale. Among a range of participatory approaches, the development and use of serious games gained prominence as a tool to stimulate discussion and reflection among stakeholders about sustainable resource use and collective action. This study designed and implemented the ENGAGE game (Exploring New Gaming Approach to Guide and Enlighten), that mimics the dynamics observed during the dry season in the upper Ewaso Ng’iro catchment, North West of Mount Kenya. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential role of serious gaming in subsequent steps of strengthening stakeholder engagement (agenda setting, shared understanding, commitment to collective action, and means of implementation) toward addressing complex human-water-related challenges at the catchment scale. We assessed the type of decisions made during gameplay, the communication dynamics, active participation, and the implication of decisions made on water availability. The results of three game sessions show that the ENGAGE game raised awareness and provided a recognizable hydro-logic background to conflicts while guiding community discussions toward implementable decisions. The results revealed increasing active participation, knowledge gain, and use of plural pronouns, and decreasing individual interests and conflicts among game participants. This study presents important implications for creating a collective basis for water management and can inform human-water policies and modification of the process behind water allocation rules in a river catchment.
... Diversified farming systems have been recognized as an adaptation strategy (Bernzen et al. 2023). Having a wide variety of crops as well as livestock has a number of advantages over traditional monoculture farming systems (Kabir et al. 2017), such as mitigating the impact of unfavorable market conditions, such as price fluctuations, and enhancing income generation by expanding the range of marketable crops and livestock available for sale (McCord et al. 2015). These strategies effectively mitigate the vulnerability of livelihoods and enhance their capacity to adapt to the consequences of climate change and other external stressors, thereby ultimately bolstering the resilience of households' livelihoods. ...
Farm households around the world are increasingly exposed to both external and internal shocks and stressors. Enhancing the resilience of farm households to frequent disturbances holds paramount importance in fostering the sustainability of their livelihoods and the revitalization of rural areas. Based on 1500 household samples from 14 contiguous poverty-stricken areas (CPSA) in China, this study explores the causal pathways between livelihood capitals of farm households and rural site conditions of rural communities, as well as quantifying their impacts on farm households' livelihood resilience using structural equation models. In particular, the livelihood resilience of farm households is measured based on the "Exposure-Sensitivity-Adaptability" framework. The results show that livelihood resilience is positively represented by exposure and adaptability, but is negatively correlated with sensitivity. Specifically, households with lower mean health and higher dependency ratio are more sensitive to risks, while exposure to agroforestry pests and diseases will lead farm households to diversify their livelihood activities and increase crop and livestock variety to enhance their adaptability. The livelihood capital of farm households has a significant positive effect on livelihood resilience (β = 0.874, p < 0.001). Rural site conditions have both significant direct and indirect impacts on livelihood resilience, with the direct impact (β = − 0.207, p < 0.05) being negative and a bit larger than the positive indirect impact (β = 0.163, p < 0.05), as mediated by livelihood capital. The government should, therefore, invest more in health insurance, education and training, financial support, and infrastructure, and implement village planning to enhance both the quality of household livelihood capitals and rural site conditions in CPSA.
... The reason behind it is that the mean difference comparison does not account for selection bias. Our finding is in line with the finding of previous studies which suggest agriculture extension service access has positive impact on farm diversification [27,31,32]. For example, Mussema et al. [32] suggests that access to conventional extension service increases Ethiopian farmers' diversification involvement by 22.22%. ...
... Crop diversity declines pose considerable strain on the natural resources, environment, ecology, labour, market, machinery availability and socioeconomic situations of farmers (McCord et al., 2015). Crop diversification index maps are presented in the Fig VIII and IX. ...
In this study, crop diversity index (CDI) was computed for Telangana Rabi season at mandal level with the help of crops area calculated by using remote sensing. Sentinel 2A and 2B MSI L2A products were processed and obtained time series normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images. Pure cropped pixels were extracted for major Rabi crops based on ground truth data using the NDVI Composite index, which comprises of temporal profiling of time series NDVI. Hybrid method which uses phenology-based decision rules and unsupervised classification was used to delineate Rabi crop area. The cropped area provided by the Govt. agency and the remote sensing based cropped area estimates have showed a good correlation. To measure agricultural diversification at the mandal level, the Gibbs and Martin formula (1962) of crop diversification index was used to generate the crop diversity index values, which solely considers net planted area of crops during Rabi season. The findings demonstrate that, assuming identical geo-climatic and socio-economic conditions, the amount of land cultivated for each crop changes at the Mandal level with changes in terrain, soil types, irrigation capabilities, distance from main crop markets and government policies.
... Productivity in arid and semi-arid regions is limited by the availability and quality of water resources, as well as by factors such as soil fertility and nutrient availability. In general, the primary production in these regions is dominated by drought-resistant crops such as millet, sorghum, and maize, as well as by pastoral livestock production (Huang et al., 2017;McCord et al., 2015;Mizyed, 2013). However, these production systems are often vulnerable to environmental shocks such as droughts, floods, and pests, which can have significant impacts on food security and livelihoods in these regions. ...
Starvation and malnutrition are one of the most destructive problems faced by the poor and needy in the world. With the world population expected to increase by 9.7 billion by 2050, there are growing concerns about the long-term sustainability of many existing food production systems to meet future needs for food. Aquaculture is one of the important sources of food supply, the development of which is of great importance as an important weapon in the global fight against malnutrition and poverty, especially in developing countries and arid and semi-arid regions of the world. In recent decades, aquaculture has dominated all sectors of livestock production in terms of growth and increasingly contributes to food security, poverty reduction, job creation and sources of income. It is important to follow sustainable development goals to increase aquaculture production. Climate change is currently affecting food security through increasing temperature and decreasing rainfall, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Food security is a global concern and access to affordable, nutritious, safe and properly cultivated food is one of the most important issues globally. The main emphasis in the development of aquaculture in arid and semi-arid areas is the use of new technologies based on water saving, such as biofloc technology (BFT), integrated multi-trophic aquaculture system (IMTA) and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). In this study, the importance of aquaculture as a sustainable source of food production in arid and semi-arid regions is discussed.
... Diversification of income activities is the most viable technique for ensuring smallholder farmers' long-term viability (Awoke, 2019;Etana et al., 2021). Household income, landholding size, extension contact exposure, and agroecological appropriateness are all linked to the possibility of smallholder income diversification (McCord et al., 2015). The ability to adapt productive technology can influence the diversification of earning activities. ...
Climate change, hazards to productive assets, social-related shocks, and land productivity reduction are all likely to make poor households less resilient. In Ethiopia’s highlands, the ability to deal with household resilience against poverty in the face of uncertainty is minimal. In the Goncha district of Ethiopia’s Northwest highlands, the study attempts to identify factors of household resilience to livelihood insecurity under crop-livestock mixed agricultural systems. Face-to-face interviews with 280 households were conducted using a structured questionnaire to acquire primary data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and structural equation modeling. The results revealed that household resilience to livelihood insecurity was significantly influenced by perceptions of sustainable farming practices, the cultivation of more fertile farmland, savings performance, diversification of income-generating activities, intensification of livestock husbandry practices, access to irrigation practice, and familiarity with practical technologies. Hence, scaling up sustainable farming systems and practical technologies, improving saving habits, increasing income diversification, and intensifying agroforestry are perceived to be significant to increase smallholder household resilience to livelihood insecurity over agroecologies.
... Diversification in the farming systems is an important indicator of household dietary diversity particularly for poor rural households (Pellegrini and Tasciotti, 2014;Timler et al., 2020) and have been considered as a coping strategy on the effects of global climate change (McCord et al., 2015). ...
Tanzania is among the sub-Saharan African countries experiencing food insecurity due to high rates of malnutrition in many forms, largely attributed to a lack of dietary diversity among disadvantaged urban and rural households. Surprisingly, Tanzania's breadbasket regions important for food production have high rates of micronutrient deficiency, partly due to limited dietary diversity. This thesis focused on exploring the potential of soybean-maize-chicken value chains to support the sustainable production of diversified diets and to identify entry points for value chain integration in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. We first employed fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) to understand the current soybean, maize, and chicken value chains, highlight stakeholder relationships, and identified entry points for value chain integration to support nutritious diets in three regions in the Southern Highlands. The study revealed the importance of networks of value chains in domestic markets, whereby soybean-maize-chicken value chains are interconnected particularly at smallholder farming systems and at processing facilities. Chicken feed was an important entry point for integrating the three value chains, as maize and soybean meal are chickens' main sources of energy and proteins. Unlike maize, the utilization of soybean in chicken feed was very low, mainly due to inadequate processing of soybean grain into meal. As a result, the soybean grain produced is primarily exported to neighbouring countries for processing, and soybean meal is imported at relatively high prices. We proposed enhancing local sourcing and adequate processing of soybean coupled with strengthening the integration of smallholder farmers with other soybean-maize-chicken value chain actors to improve access to nutritious food for people.
In a next step, we conducted a cross-sectional survey to understand the diversity of chicken farming and to explore the intensification gradient in the production systems in urban and rural areas in the Iringa region. This study is the first to explore the diversity of chicken farming and the underlying production constraints based on the subdivision of the production systems refined by adding the size of the flocks to highlight variations in the scale of operations. The findings show that the degree of intensification of chicken production systems was increasing with the number of improved crossbred and exotic chickens raised at medium to large scale intensive systems, in both urban and rural locations. These chickens were fed with homemade and/or commercial feeds. Understanding the diversity of chicken farming systems allowed a diagnosis of problems targeting interventions for different production systems. We found for instance that development of small-scale poultry systems is hampered by limited access to quality feed whereas medium to large scale systems were constrained by limited supply of one-day-old chicks.
The study further explored the current feed gap and how this gap can be closed by comparing the actual feed quantity and quality supplied to dual-purpose chicken with the recommended standards. Combining surveys, physical measurements of chicken and eggs, sampling of feed and laboratory analysis on micronutrient content and mycotoxin contamination, we found the need for a stronger focus on feeding strategies and ensuring the availability of affordable, suitable and safe feed formulations. In line with the Tanzania Livestock Master Plan, the study highlighted the importance of closing feed gaps (both with regard to quantity and quality) to meet the increasing demand for chicken meat and eggs.
Lastly, the study assessed land requirements to produce sufficient food of adequate nutritional quality for the current and the anticipated doubled population of the Iringa region by 2050 based on macro secondary data, and micro primary data. The actual and potential yield of the food crops grown in the region were extracted from the Yield Gap Atlas, a global open-access database. For actual chicken production, we used our own data and potential yields, and feed requirements were based on values provided by poultry breeding companies. The findings of this thesis revealed that with actual yields for crops and poultry and a doubling in population size, even the total area of land suitable for agriculture is not enough to produce sufficient food and feed. Cultivating unused suitable or unsuitable land with the actual yields leads to food-feed competition in most scenarios and with the increasing population, food exports will be strongly reduced or no longer possible. To meet the increasing demand for food, the present study strongly recommends focusing on sustainable intensification options aiming to reduce the yield gaps in crop and poultry production. Otherwise, with the current yield, it will not be possible to produce sufficient diverse food for the current and future population without further expansion of agricultural land.
... Although it does not appear to be a priority for co-operatives, the latter rank it in the first category of levers, that of medium importance. Advice to farmers by professional agricultural organizations and business partners has long been considered as a very important policy lever for the promotion and diffusion of innovative farming systems [96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104]. These stakeholders, including co-operatives, in advice and extension can therefore play a role as catalysts for the acquisition of the skills needed to adopt these diversified cropping systems. ...
This paper focuses on the barriers and levers to the adoption of Wheat–Pea intercropping systems. More precisely, we define a hierarchy of the main barriers and levers to adoption using the Relative Importance Index (RII) method. This method allows comparison of incentives, negative (brakes) and positive (levers), for adoption at two levels of the value chain, i.e., the farmer and the co-operative level. For this comparison, we conducted two surveys: one on 71 Belgian farmers and the other on 19 French co-operatives. Our results show that the barriers of high importance for the farmers are both internal and external, while the co-operatives consider only internal barriers. That is, the farmers mainly focus on external (market access and public subsidies) and internal (lack of technical advice and extension, as well as collection and storage problems) obstacles to evaluate the intercropping system. For the co-operatives, the most important barriers are related to the sorting and storage of the mixture (internal barriers). Regarding levers, farmers and co-operatives converge on the importance of almost the same external levers, e.g., building new value chains through contracts and labeling, specific extension services for farmers and logistical support for co-operatives.
... To solve the challenges such as the low adoption rate of conservation tillage technology, firstly, we explored the influencing factors of technology adoption. There are several factors that will influence the adoption of technology, such as characteristics of farmers (gender, age, education level, risk preference, ecological cognition, social capital, etc.); family endowment (income level, cropping scale, cropping system, part-time situation, risk and uncertainty, etc.); environmental factors (soil type, extension system, technical training, rainfall and pest shocks, government compensation, etc.) [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Secondly, we focused on the attributes of technology adoption. ...
Studying the dynamic duration of technology adoption helps farmers weigh and select different attributes and stages of conservation tillage techniques. In this study, non-parametric K-M survival analysis and discrete duration models were employed to estimate the time taken by farmers in the Yellow River Basin region to transition from awareness to the adoption of conservation tillage techniques between 2002 and 2020. The results indicate (1) The duration from awareness to adoption of conservation tillage technology is relatively short. (2) The likelihood of farmers postponing adoption decisions is highest in the initial 10 years and gradually decreases over time, suggesting negative time dependency. (3) Controlling for proportional hazards assumptions, it was found that factors such as education level and social learning positively influence the duration from awareness to adoption of conservation tillage techniques. Extreme weather variations and household labor migration delay the adoption time for farmers. In the process of promoting and implementing conservation tillage techniques, it is essential to consider the issue of intertemporal technology choice, stimulate farmers’ intrinsic demand, shorten the time interval from awareness to adoption, and ultimately improve technology adoption rates.
... With diversification being entry into new crop production lines (Githira, 2008) and the practice of cultivating more than one crop variety on the same farm (Dube et al., 2016). This implies the low contribution of crops other than maize, low diversification, low price risk management and low food security (McCord et al., 2015) but increased returns to maize specialisation for households with limited resources (Ignaciuk et al., 2017). Moreover, the gender of farmers, education and trade experience, membership in cooperatives, resource ownership, features of the land owned, access to extension services and transaction costs reported to affect crop enterprise diversification (Rehima et al., 2013) do not seem to have a consistent direction of effect on it. ...
This study examined the factors shaping crop enterprise diversification among small-holder maize farmers in the Kalulushi District of Zambia. Having high crop enterprise diversification promotion among small-holder maize recently as a household food security and farm enterprise risk absorption strategy across Zambia, questions have arisen on factors encouraging or negating farmer responses since maize production has remained dominant, particularly under rain-fed systems. The study used primary data from a sample of 150 farmers. Data included the crop enterprise diversification index as the dependent variable, whereas the farming practice, farm size, the maize subsistence index, cooperative dependence, distance to the central market, weighted maize selling price, dependence on government purchases, planting period and source of financing for farming are the independent variables. Empirical results revealed that crop enterprise diversification increased with an increase in distance from the market, conservation farming practice, subsistence level, weighted maize selling price, and alternative financing. However, it decreased with an increase in farm size and dependence on government purchases. Cooperative dependence and planting period were not found to affect crop enterprise diversification. The study recommends streamlining crop enterprise diversification with distance from the market, farming practice, level of subsistence, weighted maize selling price, alternative financing, farm size and dependence on government purchases.
... In addition, we include a series of controls regarding demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that could possibly affect farmers' citrus specialization and land use choices. These include household farming land [64], land plots [65], experience in growing citrus [15], household labor [13], off-farm work [2], cooperative membership [66], and demographic variables of the farm households such as age, gender, education, and ethnicity [27,28,67]. ...
Specialization may lead to higher income for small-scale farmers but comes with increased risks, while diversification can mitigate risks and foster agricultural sustainability. Considering the influences of complex risks and farmers’ subjective risk aversion, the decision for small-scale farmers to specialize in citrus cultivation or diversify with multiple crops remains uncertain. There is currently limited understanding of this issue among citrus smallholders in rural China. This study aims to fill this empirical gap by examining the impact of smallholder farmers’ subjective risk aversion on their choice between citrus monoculture and crop diversification. It utilizes a subjective risk assessment approach that incorporates farmers’ risk perceptions and risk attitudes towards citrus farming. Farm crop diversification is assessed through the utilization of both the count index and Shannon index. The empirical analysis employs survey data obtained from citrus growers in Guangxi, China, and applies an instrumental variable regression method with endogeneity consideration using the IV-Probit model and 2SLS model estimation. The results reveal that both risk perceptions and risk attitudes play important roles in citrus smallholders’ land allocation decisions. Specifically, citrus farmers who perceive higher risks and adopt risk-averse attitudes are statistically more inclined to engage in land use diversification practices, including the practice of growing citrus as well as other crops, which contributes to reducing the risks of citrus farming and promoting local environmental conservation. These results contribute to a better scholarly comprehension of the relationship between risk perceptions, risk attitudes, and crop diversification among small-scale citrus farmers. They provide valuable insights for enhancing the sustainability of land use systems with citrus farming while also emphasizing the importance of maintaining essential diversification in small-scale farming throughout the process of agricultural modernization.
... Where there is a higher level of agricultural technology and a lower degree of diversification, the physical and socioeconomic factors of the region play a crucial role in regulating crop diversification (Dutta, 2012;Raju, 2012;. Farmers and the environment can benefit from a variety of agricultural systems that improve agricultural losses due to pests and other risks, have favourable effects on ecosystem performance and provide considerable services for agriculture (Bommarco et al., 2013;Chaplin-Kramer et al., 2011;Gardiner et al., 2009), Agricultural diversification found to be increased for climate change (Altieri, 1999;McCord et al., 2015;Rukhsana, 2021) and reduced risk of farmers related with climatic factors (Bradshaw et al., 2004;Lin, 2011). Diversified agriculture increased to soil stability and household income (Abson et al., 2013; Barrett et al., 2001;Bigsten & Tengstam, 1970;Demissie & Legesse, 2013;Makate et al., 2016;Mhango et al., 2013;Njeru, 2016). ...
Primary animal health care is an important ingredient to sustainable and profitable livestock farming. The aim of the study was to investigate the animal health care management practices adopted by smallholder livestock farmers in South Africa. Combinations of multi-stage and stratified sampling techniques were used to select 591 farmers across five provinces in South Africa. The results revealed that farmers employed various primary animal health care practices to prevent diseases. The degree of uptake of the different primary animal health care practices differed across the five provinces. In general, dipping, vaccination and deworming were the most used disease preventative measures while disinfection, isolation and restricted access were the least used disease preventative measures. Although dipping was a common primary animal health care practice, the Free State lagged behind. Membership of livestock association and livestock expenditure were the major drivers of adoption of primary animal health care practices. The study also found that livestock farmers across the provinces were spending a significant amount of household income on primary animal health care. Household livestock management expenditure was influenced by household head education level, income, and herd size. In light of these findings, the study recommends that there should be targeted interventions on primary animal health care (i.e., provision of dipping infrastructure) driven through bottom-up approaches.KeywordsPrimary animal health careSmallholder farmersLivestockSouth Africa
... Where there is a higher level of agricultural technology and a lower degree of diversification, the physical and socioeconomic factors of the region play a crucial role in regulating crop diversification (Dutta, 2012;Raju, 2012;. Farmers and the environment can benefit from a variety of agricultural systems that improve agricultural losses due to pests and other risks, have favourable effects on ecosystem performance and provide considerable services for agriculture (Bommarco et al., 2013;Chaplin-Kramer et al., 2011;Gardiner et al., 2009), Agricultural diversification found to be increased for climate change (Altieri, 1999;McCord et al., 2015;Rukhsana, 2021) and reduced risk of farmers related with climatic factors (Bradshaw et al., 2004;Lin, 2011). Diversified agriculture increased to soil stability and household income (Abson et al., 2013; Barrett et al., 2001;Bigsten & Tengstam, 1970;Demissie & Legesse, 2013;Makate et al., 2016;Mhango et al., 2013;Njeru, 2016). ...
The human-induced water use changes and the climate change effects have impartially led to long-term drought, water shortages and some casual flood incidents. These have greatly impacted the northern region of Iraq over the past few decades. Water resource management has become a key to resolve this dilemma, particularly for the arid and semi-arid areas. Harvested water could be exploited for consumption, domestic and animal use. Moreover, it is considered to be a valuable resource for irrigating agricultural lands. This study aims to identify appropriate sites for rainwater harvesting in the Sulaymaniyah province, Iraqi Kurdistan region. These processes have been done by using remote sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) model has been used to find out suitable locations for water harvesting. The criteria considered were runoff, slope, soil type, land cover and drainage density. Each factor is assigned to its weight depending on its effect. Based on the findings, the average region that is outstanding and very well suited for water collection is 32% of the whole area. The model that has been applied in the current study is extremely significant and supportive for water resource management.KeywordsGISRemote sensingMCDMAHPRain water harvesting
... The most common strategy is by planting many possible food crops in a parcel of land or in several parcels of land at farm level. McCord et al. (2015) stated that: "Crop diversification is one strategy that smallholder farmers may employ to reduce their vulnerability in the face of global environmental change." Farming in semi-arid areas visage high risk of failure mainly due to water limitation. ...
Ngongo Y, Markus JER. 2020. Agricultural innovations and adaptation strategies among upland communities in the state boundary of Kupang District (Indonesia) and Oecusse Enclave (East Timor). Trop Drylands 4: 51-57. The policy pledge of ‘development started from the periphery’ has been implemented as a new paradigm of national development in Indonesia. Agricultural Ministry translated this national policy by implementing several programs and one of them is promoting agricultural innovations to boost agricultural production and rural development in the state boundary. This paper elaborates on agricultural innovations being introduced and adaptations of local people towards harsh climate and to protect natural resources in the state boundary of Kupang District of Republic of Indonesia and Oecusse enclave of Republic Democratic of Timor Leste (East Timor). Data and information are used mainly from the on-going program of Agricultural Innovation Support (AIS). Some insights of similar programs implemented in the three other districts of Timor that share borderlines with East Timor have also been used to enrich the narratives. The study shows that agricultural innovation being introduced has successfully been adopted by co-operators, however, it has limited impacts on the surrounding farmers/villages due to farmers' poor access to the external inputs market, and agricultural extensions. This implies that agricultural innovations should consider farmers’ circumstances, particularly harsh climate of the region, and it should compatible with household calendar both in farming and off-farming particularly in honey harvesting. Traditional beekeeping by Amfoang community demonstrates how local people maintain one of the important sources of their livelihoods and at the same time protect natural resources. Recognizing and supporting customary law on honey harvesting helps protect forests and biodiversity in Amfoang and Timor in general.
... Therefore, farmers with large farm sizes are expected to allocate some portions to cultivate some of these crops. Previous studies have found that utilising crop diversification as a resilience strategy is more feasible on relatively larger farms [107,108]. Contrarily, crop diversification was significantly and negatively correlated with large farm size [109]. Further, the results suggest that males are more likely to diversify their cultivated crops than females. ...
The study investigated risk perception, adoption of risk management instruments and the intensity of adoption among irrigated-rice farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana. A multistage sampling technique was employed to draw 477 farmers for the study. The perception index, multivariate probit and Poisson regression models were used for the analysis. The results show that the perception index score was positive (0.43), which implies that farmers agreed that various types of risk (production, marketing and financial risks) affect their farming. It was found that the farmers combined diverse techniques to manage risk. All the farmers were using improved varieties and agrochemicals, yet none had any form of agricultural insurance. Also, farmers’ socio-demographic, farm-level, institutional, risk perceptions and environmental changes have a significant and heterogeneous effect on risk management practice. Particularly, gender, years of education, total farm size, rice farm size and soil fertility status significantly predict crop diversification. Gender, years of education, total farm size, rainfall prediction and soil fertility status are the determinants of off-farm work participation. Again, gender, age, years of education, farming experience, extension access, the land tenure system, total farm size, rice farm size and market risk explains farmers' credit uptake. The practice of crop rotation is influenced by gender, farming experience, access to extension services, the land tenure system, total farm size, market risk perception, and soil fertility status; whiles extension services predict engagement in contract farming. Also, the intensity of adopting risk management instruments is influenced by farmers' age, farming experience, the land tenure system, extension access, total farm size and erratic rainfall, heterogeneously. Further, market risk perceptions augment crop rotation and credit access adoption, validating the Protection Motivation Theory. We recommend that insurance companies develop strategies to ensure the uptake of the policies by farmers within the irrigation scheme. Also, investment in organisations like extension services, research centres, and ICOUR is crucial for development because it may persuade farmers to use the right risk management tools. Further, stakeholders should consider farmers' risk perception when designing risk management policies.
... Although it does not appear to be a priority for co-operatives, the latter rank it in the first category of levers, that of medium importance. Advice to farmers by professional agricultural organizations and business partners has long been considered as a very important policy lever for the promotion and diffusion of innovative farming systems [96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104]. These stakeholders, including co-operatives, in advice and extension can therefore play a role as catalysts for the acquisition of the skills needed to adopt these diversified cropping systems. ...
This paper focuses on the barriers and levers to the adoption of Wheat–Pea intercropping systems. More precisely, we define a hierarchy of the main barriers and levers to adoption using the Relative Importance Index (RII) method. This method allows comparison of incentives, negative (brakes) and positive (levers), for adoption at two levels of the value chain, i.e., the farmer and the co-operative level. For this comparison, we conducted two surveys: one on 71 Belgian farmers and
the other on 19 French co-operatives. Our results show that the barriers of high importance for the farmers are both internal and external, while the co-operatives consider only internal barriers. That is, the farmers mainly focus on external (market access and public subsidies) and internal (lack of technical advice and extension, as well as collection and storage problems) obstacles to evaluate the intercropping system. For the co-operatives, the most important barriers are related to the sorting and storage of the mixture (internal barriers). Regarding levers, farmers and co-operatives converge on the importance of almost the same external levers, e.g., building new value chains through contracts and labeling, specific extension services for farmers and logistical support for co-operatives.
... According to Abdallah (2016), credit accessibility enables farmers to diversify into new areas of technology. Crop diversification may be used by households as an approach to lessen their susceptibility to shocks like climate change (Bannor et al., 2022;Baumgartner and Quaas, 2010;Lin, 2011;Mccord et al., 2015). For a very long time, diversification in agriculture is key in lessening risks associated with production, marketing, instability in household revenue and its repercussions on food security and poverty (Kim et al., 2012;Tasie et al., 2012;Ogundari, 2013;Asante et al., 2018). ...
This study examined access to credit and income diversification by smallholder tomato farmers in the Offinso North District of Ghana. Primary data was gathered from 311 tomato farmers. Descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression, Heckman two-step model, and propensity score matching were employed. About 30% of smallholder tomato farmers had access to credit while majority diversified through non-farm (59%) and on-farm (82%) incomes. Access to credit was significantly and positively influenced by dependency ratio, farm size, extension contacts, and membership in FBOs. The determinants of income diversification by smallholder tomato farmers are gender, age, education, household size, distance to district capital, farming experience and extension visits. Credit accessibility increases income diversification and productivity. There is the need for tomato farmers to diversify into other income generating activities to supplement their income. Government and private agencies should strengthen the provision of extension services to smallholder tomato farmers, and tomato farmers should be encouraged to join farmer groups.
... However, livelihood strategies are divided into five core asset groups, i.e., human capital, physical capital, financial capital, social capital, and natural capital [2]. People seek out and combine diverse forms of capital as a livelihood strategy to survive [3]. In recent decades, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme, and the Department for International Development (DFID) have made great efforts to analyze livelihood sustainability [4]. ...
Livelihood strategies are a combination of activities and actions that individuals undertake to accomplish their desired goals. The current study aimed to examine the impacts of livelihood strategies on business performance. This study explored social capital as a mediator between livelihood strategies and business performance. This study further investigated how environmental perception strengthens livelihood strategies and business performance. For data collection, a quantitative research method and a random sampling technique were used. Data were collected through 550 questionnaires from small–medium enterprises (SMEs) in China. To test the study hypotheses, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed. The findings confirm the notion that livelihood strategies are positively associated with business performance. The results also corroborate the notion that social capital mediates the association between livelihood strategies and business performance. The outcome validates the notion that livelihood strategies and business performance are further articulated when environmental perception is higher. Environmental perception moderated the impacts of livelihood strategies on business performance via social capital. The current research provides a better understanding of how livelihood strategies facilitate amplified business performance via social capital and the valuable role of environmental perception in research models.
Organic farming in the Philippines is taking a toll in establishing its sustainability in the market due to varying factors. This study determined the adoption of organic farming in the Visayas area, Philippines, A.Y. 2020 with the end view of formulating an empowerment development model for farmers. The study utilized the multi research method with the use of researcher-made questionnaire as the main instrument in data gathering. Both quantitative and qualitative data was used in ascertaining the factors that influenced the adoption of organic farming in Visayas. There were thirty-five (35) respondents who were the farmers from the selected organic farms in Visayas, both in Region VI-Western Visayas and Region VII-Central Visayas. These farms are accredited by a third-party accrediting body of the Department of Agriculture. Convenience sampling technique was used where the participants were selected based on their availability and their willingness to take part of the study. The main instrument used in gathering the data was research-designed and had undergone content validation and pilot testing to ascertain their functionality and reliability. For data analysis weighted mean, chi-square test of independence and One-Way ANOVA. Land size, soil quality, farmer's level of education and labor demand techniques influenced the farmers in adopting organic farming at a moderate extent. The organic farmers moderately practiced soil management, weed control techniques, crop diversification, fertilization, irrigation and harvesting. There is a significant relationship between the type of respondents and the extent of influence of land-size to the farmers toward adopting organic farming and there is also another significant relationship between cooperative membership of the respondents and the extent of influence of labor demand techniques towards the farmer's decision to engage in organic farming. However, there is no significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and the farming practices they employed in their organic farming activity. There is no significant difference between the responses of the respondents on the extent of influence of the factors like land-size, soil quality, farmer's level of education and labor demand techniques to the farmers in their inclination to adopt organic farming and the organic farming practice that used in their organic farming by activity Despite of a good market opportunity of organic farming, there was just a gradual conversion of the farmers from organic farming to conventional farming even though the country is doing some initiatives to push for the sustainability of organic farming industry. Likewise, the growing demand for organic produce in the market, the farmers in Region VI and VII have shown hesitation towards full adoption and had not applied the ideal farming practices at a maximum level to ensure that their activity addresses the vulnerability of the environment visa -vis fulfilling the commitment to provide healthy and nutritious crops to the consumers.
Developing appropriate adaptation practices and coping mechanisms for climate change and evaluating the variables affecting households’ choices are critical for ensuring sustainable agricultural production. In addressing the above issues, this paper presents the results of a multi-method approach at the farm level conducted in the case study of Prespa Park. The data collected by a participatory process were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the 5-point Likert scale, the Delphi method, and a multinomial logit model. The typology of coping and adaptation practices to climate change preferred by households and the reasons for those who failed to adapt are presented. Results revealed that improving technologies for increasing soil health was the most preferred adaptation practice, followed by planting early maturing and drought-tolerant food crop varieties, practicing water-saving irrigation methods or technologies, planting agroforestry systems, and finally perennial agriculture. In terms of coping mechanisms, engaging in off-farm activities was the most used, followed by collecting fuel wood for sale, selling assets like livestock, increasing water storage capacity, and changing farming structure. Small farm holdings, financial constraints, limited off-farm employment opportunities, inadequate infrastructure and technology, and a lack of information about adaptation practices were identified as the main barriers to undertaking adaptation. Performing the multinomial logit analysis, the variables that positively and significantly improve households' ability to adapt to climate change were identified and evaluated. The results of this study should help policymakers and climate change planners come up with better practices for the agricultural sector to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Developing appropriate adaptation practices and coping mechanisms for climate change and evaluating the variables affecting households’ choices are critical for ensuring sustainable agricultural production. In addressing the above issues, this paper presents the results of a multi-method approach at the farm level conducted in the case study of Prespa Park. The data collected by a participatory process were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the 5-point Likert scale, the Delphi method, and a multinomial logit model. The typology of coping and adaptation practices to climate change preferred by households and the reasons for those who failed to adapt are presented. Results revealed that improving technologies for increasing soil health was the most preferred adaptation practice, followed by planting early maturing and drought-tolerant food crop varieties, practicing water-saving irrigation methods or technologies, planting agroforestry systems, and finally perennial agriculture. In terms of coping mechanisms, engaging in off-farm activities was the most used, followed by collecting fuel wood for sale, selling assets like livestock, increasing water storage capacity, and changing farming structure. Small farm holdings, financial constraints, limited off-farm employment opportunities, inadequate infrastructure and technology, and a lack of information about adaptation practices were identified as the main barriers to undertaking adaptation. Performing the multinomial logit analysis, the variables that positively and significantly improve households' ability to adapt to climate change were identified and evaluated. The results of this study should help policymakers and climate change planners come up with better practices for the agricultural sector to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Organic farming in the Philippines is taking a toll in establishing its sustainability in the market due to varying factors. This study determined the adoption of organic farming in the Visayas area, Philippines, A.Y. 2020 with the end view of formulating an empowerment development model for farmers. The study utilized the multi research method with the use of researcher-made questionnaire as the main instrument in data gathering. Both quantitative and qualitative data was used in ascertaining the factors that influenced the adoption of organic farming in Visayas. There were thirty-five (35) respondents who were the farmers from the selected organic farms in Visayas, both in Region VI-Western Visayas and Region VII-Central Visayas. These farms are accredited by a third-party accrediting body of the Department of Agriculture. Convenience sampling technique was used where the participants were selected based on their availability and their willingness to take part of the study. The main instrument used in gathering the data was research-designed and had undergone content validation and pilot testing to ascertain their functionality and reliability. For data analysis weighted mean, chi-square test of independence and One-Way ANOVA. Land size, soil quality, farmer’s level of education and labor demand techniques influenced the farmers in adopting organic farming at a moderate extent. The organic farmers moderately practiced soil management, weed control techniques, crop diversification, fertilization, irrigation and harvesting. There is a significant relationship between the type of respondents and the extent of influence of land-size to the farmers toward adopting organic farming and there is also another significant relationship between cooperative membership of the respondents and the extent of influence of labor demand techniques towards the farmer’s decision to engage in organic farming. However, there is no significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and the farming practices they employed in their organic farming activity. There is no significant difference between the responses of the respondents on the extent of influence of the factors like land-size, soil quality, farmer’s level of education and labor demand techniques to the farmers in their inclination to adopt organic farming and the organic farming practice that used in their organic farming by activity Despite of a good market opportunity of organic farming, there was just a gradual conversion of the farmers from organic farming to conventional farming even though the country is doing some initiatives to push for the sustainability of organic farming industry. Likewise, the growing demand for organic produce in the market, the farmers in Region VI and VII have shown hesitation towards full adoption and had not applied the ideal farming practices at a maximum level to ensure that their activity addresses the vulnerability of the environment vis-a-vis fulfilling the commitment to provide healthy and nutritious crops to the consumers.
CONTEXT
Mixed farming systems are the mainstay of many developing countries' agricultural sector while sensible to the environmental and social consequences of climate change. Besides, some developing countries have proposed and/or launched specific policies to incentivise actions to address climate change.
OBJECTIVE
This study assesses the potential adaptations and systematic changes of mixed agriculture under varying climatic conditions and agricultural greenhouse gases (GHG) abatement schemes, represented by agricultural GHG tax, in North Xinjiang, the second largest mixed farming region in China and one of the key farming regions in Central Asia.
METHODS
A whole-farm bioeconomic optimisation model that considers multiple adaptation options and enterprises interactions and farm-level data are used to depict the changes on land use, productivity, profitability and GHG emissions of mixed farms with different scenarios.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that farm profitability tends to be enhanced with rising precipitation. Agricultural GHG tax reduces the profitability of mixed farming production, but the losses are likely to be offset, to some extent, with rising precipitation. The favorable GHG reduction effect of rising precipitation could be boosted when agricultural GHG tax is launched. Adapting to the changing precipitation and the application of agricultural GHG tax, economically optimised land uses tend to be relatively cropping-dominated and size of livestock enterprise tends to decrease considerably. Additionally, adaptation options include more wheat-pasture and wheat-field-pea rotations with increasing agricultural GHG tax rate.
SIGNIFICANCE
By exploring a mixed farming system under changing climate in North Xinjiang, our results contribute to a better understanding of possible systematic evolution in mixed farming systems under climate change in developing countries. Policymakers should place greater emphasis on mixed farming systems in North Xinjiang to promote China's carbon neutrality. Policy priority also includes enabling farmers in mixed agriculture to be sufficiently informed about climate change impacts and effective adaptations and boosting carbon-neutral research and innovation to facilitate efficient adaptations and lessen the adverse financial effects.
This paper highlights the significance of nurturing and safeguarding minor crops as a means of achieving regional sustainable development, preserving biodiversity, and ensuring food security. Minor crops play a critical role in addressing various environmental challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification, and soil salinity. Simultaneously, they offer local farmers economic opportunities by providing income stability and resilience. To demonstrate the potential of minor crops in promoting sustainable development, a case study from Greece is presented, focusing on three crops: blackcurrant, rice, and sunflower, which bring substantial economic and environmental benefits to the region. The study assesses the economic and environmental impact of these crops across three different rural territories in Greece. Despite covering less than 4% of total agricultural land, these crops are predominantly grown in marginal, mountainous, and insular regions. By analyzing the farm‐level and broader economic effects, the study determines their potential for agricultural and regional development. The results indicate that these crops are more profitable and environmentally friendly compared to their counterparts in all three cases. Additionally, they make significant contributions to the regional economies relative to their cultivated land area, supporting economic growth while conserving and enhancing agricultural land. In conclusion, this article emphasizes the crucial need to promote the cultivation and preservation of minor crops to support sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, and regional economic growth. Policymakers and agricultural practitioners should prioritize the cultivation and preservation of regional minor crops to safeguard biodiversity at the regional level and at the same time sustainable regional development.
This study presents an in-depth analysis of climate finance within the agricultural sector and its pivotal role in fostering sustainability in agrarian economies. It investigates the availability, accessibility, challenges, and effective utilization of climate finance. Climate finance emerges as a critical resource for establishing funding mechanisms and incentives that support sustainable agricultural practices, bolstering resilience and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Secondary sources, including books, journals, articles, policy documents, and reports, provide the data for this research. The findings of this study underscore a vital revelation: private investors play a crucial role in augmenting climate finance, thereby facilitating the transition to sustainable agriculture. It is evident that their participation significantly enhances the financial support available to farmers and agricultural stakeholders. Furthermore, the study reveals that a combined effort from both government and private investors has yielded considerable progress in advancing climate finance investment within India’s agricultural sector. This collaborative approach has proven instrumental in addressing the challenges faced by those seeking climate finance in agriculture. It has effectively increased awareness, streamlined application processes, and strengthened institutional support, ultimately driving the adoption of sustainable practices. The implications of this research extend to policymakers, agricultural institutions, and financial organizations, highlighting the pivotal role of private investors in improving climate finance accessibility. The future scope of this research suggests that the effective utilization of climate finance has the potential to catalyse the widespread adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. The study emphasizes the importance of channelling climate finance through a variety of stakeholders to maximize its utility and make use of all available resources and instruments.
The sustainable development of agriculture is not only dependent on economics and policy but also relies on decisions to increase sustainability through either (1) specialization (e.g., sustainable intensification) or (2) diversification (e.g., ecological intensification). Understanding the historical context of the region being evaluated is critical to selecting ideal development strategies. Depending on the emphasis on either specialization or diversification, sustainable development can follow different pathways. Specialization during agricultural development is typically concentrated in specific geographic areas with comparative advantages in terms of agricultural production. However, tradeoffs to agricultural specialization include greater reliance on purchased external inputs, greater dependence on government support, and international and interregional interdependence. Addressing the economic and environmental challenges of specialized agricultural production requires a focus on detailed models and field experiments to help balance productivity with reduced environmental impacts. Diversification can incorporate both enterprise diversification as well as ecological intensification strategies, such as integrating livestock and agroforestry with crops. Despite the promises of maintaining the diversity of small shareholders in the developing world, challenges remain. Regional case studies can be used to inspire and implement diversified agricultural systems for the creation of more sustainable future food systems around the world.
Community Seed Banks (CSBs) have been established in many developing countries to improve small-scale farmers’ access to crop genetic resources and thereby their food security. However, empirical evidence of the effects on farmers’ food security remains scarce. This study focuses on Malawi, where the NGO Biodiversity Conservation Initiative has facilitated the operation of four CSBs. Among these, Mkombezi CSB was selected for in-depth analysis, as a case of a well-established CSB carrying out typical activities of a CSB, such as conserving a rich diversity of crop varieties, enhancing the performance of selected varieties, enabling access to relatively high-quality seed of the varieties, arranging seed and food fairs, capacity building in agricultural practices responding to the effects of climate change, as well as trainings in group dynamics and gender relations relevant to food production and the operation of the CSB. Three questions guide this study: (1) Does Mkombezi CSB contribute to food security? (2) If so, how? (3) Under what conditions may the findings be relevant for other CSBs in Malawi and elsewhere? The analysis builds on qualitative information from 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews, two focus-group discussions and 24 key informant interviews. We find that Mkombezi CSB contributes decisively to improving food security among its members as well as helping them to cope with lean seasons and unexpected shocks. Overall, this study indicates that under certain conditions, CSBs may contribute considerably to food security.
Study region: Upper Ewaso Ng’iro catchment is located in Eastern Africa – a water-scarce region. Study focus: Streamflow is in decline in the catchment despite the pattern of increasing amounts of rainfall in the East African region. This study explored historical human-water interplays to understand the coevolution of hydrological systems and societal development and to identify the dominant features contributing to water deficits and water-related conflicts in the lowland zone of the catchment. A socio-hydrological conceptual framework was used to mimic and explain the two-way coupling between human and hydrological systems. New hydrological insights for the region: The results show that the dominant features that have likely contributed to changes in lowland streamflow and water-related conflicts include: population growth, land use/cover changes, and economic dynamics. The dry season flows have been extremely reduced with a 100% reduction observed in the month of February especially between 2010 and 2020 while the wet season flows have increased by about 10% and 15% in the upland and midland zones respectively. The decreasing trends in the streamflow against increasing amounts of rainfall emphasize the direct role humans have on catchment water availability. East Africa being a water-scarce region, there is a need to shift the focus from ‘the sustainable natural flows perspective’ to ‘the amount of water retained during wet seasons perspective’, improving land conservation activities to increase water infiltration during wet seasons, and the need to bring all stakeholders together for collective understanding.
Plants are often subjected to several environmental constraints in the field, often simultaneously, which significantly affect their productivity. Among these constraints, water deficit and heat stress are the main constraints limiting plant yield in the arid regions of the Mediterranean basin. Both of these abiotic factors are exacerbated by climate change. Fodder legumes provide a rich resource of plant nutrition to human diets, and are vital for food security and sustainable cropping. Numerous biochemical, molecular, and physiological responses are evoked by drought and heat stresses, influencing the fodder crop yield and nutritional value. When plants are water stressed, they are unable to maintain good growth and produce high yields. Drought also reduces the protein content of the plants, which can lead to a decrease in forage quality. Heat can negatively affect the productivity of forage legumes. High temperatures can cause heat stress which can lead to decreased photosynthesis and reduced productivity. In addition, high temperatures can result in decreased forage quality and increased nutrient losses. Exposure to combined water stress and heat can reduce the protein, fiber and mineral content of forage legumes and can also reduce their digestibility. This review summarizes the current status of the effects of drought and heat stresses on forage crops productivity and fodder quality.
Plants are often subjected to several environmental constraints in the field, often simultaneously, which significantly affect their productivity. Among these constraints, water deficit and heat stress are the main constraints limiting plant yield in the arid regions of the Mediterranean basin. Both of these abiotic factors are exacerbated by climate change. Fodder legumes provide a rich resource of plant nutrition to human diets, and are vital for food security and sustainable cropping. Numerous biochemical, molecular, and physiological responses are evoked by drought and heat stresses, influencing the fodder crop yield and nutritional value. When plants are water stressed, they are unable to maintain good growth and produce high yields. Drought also reduces the protein content of the plants, which can lead to a decrease in forage quality. Heat can negatively affect the productivity of forage legumes. High temperatures can cause heat stress which can lead to decreased photosynthesis and reduced productivity. In addition, high temperatures can result in decreased forage quality and increased nutrient losses. Exposure to combined water stress and heat can reduce the protein, fiber and mineral content of forage legumes and can also reduce their digestibility. This review summarizes the current status of the effects of drought and heat stresses on forage crops productivity and fodder quality.
Agriculture is currently one of the leading economic sectors most impacted by climate change. Due to its great field of application and its susceptibility to meteorological variability, the effects of climate change on agriculture have significant social and economic consequences for human well-being. Moreover, the increasing need for land spaces for population growth has produced strong competition between food and urbanization, leading to a loss of the agroecosystem that supports food security. This review aims to understand the main risks generated by climate change in agricultural production and the potential strategies that can be applied to increase agriculture’s resilience. Agricultural risk can be linked to the decrease in the productivity of foods, weed overgrowth at the crops expense, increase in parasites, water availability, soil alteration, negative impact on production costs and consequent change in the adopted cultivars, reduction in the pollination process, intense fires, and alteration of product quality. Thus, climate change can impact the provisioning of ecosystem services, reducing food security in terms of quantity and quality for future generations. Finally, in this review, we report the main adaptation strategies to increase agroecosystem resilience in adverse environments generated by climate change. Mainly, we highlight new technologies, such as new breeding technologies and agrivoltaic and smart agricultural applications, which, combined with agroecosystems, can reduce the agricultural risks following climate change (for example, drought events and low availability of water). We suggest that the combination of natural capital and technologies can be defined as an “innovation-based solution” able to support and increase ecosystem service flow in agroecosystems.
Climate change can have negative consequences for agricultural production resulting in increased vulnerability to agricultural systems. Crop diversification can improve resilience in agriculture through a variety of ways to suppress pest outbreaks and reduce pathogen transmission, by buffering crop production from the effects of future climate scenarios, as well as greater climate variability and extreme events. Such gains point to the clear value of adopting crop diversification to improve resilience, yet adoption of crop diversification has been seen slow. This paper examines the diversity of crop (HI) in context of climate change and vulnerability (IPCC) in a coastal state West Bengal of India. The study utilizes 16 selected variables obtained from secondary sources and estimates the climate vulnerability indices amongst all districts using exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity of IPCC (Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 2007) method. The region of crop diversification (HI) was developed to detect diverse agricultural impacts. The districts have been ranked on the basis of IPCC vulnerability index where low rank number shows the most vulnerable district and high rank number indicates lowest vulnerability district. The vulnerability is varying from 0.0148 highest vulnerability in South 24 Parganas district with rank 1, 0.0022 lowest vulnerability in Howrah district with rank 18. District Howrah recorded for highest crop diversification (0.001) and lowest vulnerability (0.0022). It has been found that most vulnerable districts have medium crop diversification while low vulnerable districts reported for high cop diversification which indicates that crop diversification can be increased to reduce the vulnerability. Some districts in West Bengal have been cited as effective traditional systems of farming, lack of technology, average holding size and low diversification of per capita income. The expansion of crop diversification depends on improvement in production risk through technical assistance, quality input supply, insurance cover and the existence of modern storage-processing centres in the region. It is found that agricultural sector is gradually moving towards higher value crops in agro-climatic zone of West Bengal and its districts.KeywordsAgro-climatic zoneDistrictsCrop diversificationClimate changeIPCC vulnerability
Land-use changes such as settlement and commercial agricultural land expansion heavily influence the sustainability of landscapes and ecosystem service (ES) provisioning. Land managers and decision-makers are becoming increasingly concerned about the consequences of land-use change and advocate for integrated approaches to landscape sustainability. Integrated landscape approaches, which incorporate stakeholder views and opinions, are less explored. Especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where most of the population relies on natural resources and agricultural land-use products, integrating stakeholder knowledge in evaluating ES and landscape sustainability remain less studied. This study applied a participatory scenario-building approach combined with a spatially explicit simulation to unravel the impact of potential future scenarios based on a business-as-usual (BAU) trajectory of the coastal landscapes in southwestern Ghana. Through workshops, the perceptions of the land-use actors on locally relevant ES, ES indicator values, and the specific simulation conditions of the major land-use change, which is the expansions in rubber plantations (out-grower scheme) and settlements, were identified. The collected local knowledge was integrated into a spatially explicit modeling platform, allowing the visualization and comparison of different scenario impacts, such as synergies or trade-offs between ES. The results presented how land-use actors' perceptions could influence the landscape capacity of ES provisioning. The results indicated risk in ES delivery and landscape sustainability challenges, hence calling for effective land-use policies to control socio-economic activities and increase diversity in land-use under sustainable landscape development.
Farmers in Laikipia East District of Kenya rely on subsistence agriculture as their livelihood source which in turn depends on the amount and distribution of rainfall. The main growing season occur during the peak rainfall season, that is, between March and May while the secondary growing season occurs between October and December. Annual rainfall trend between 1976 and 2005 showed that rainfall in Laikipia East District increased a condition suitable for the good subsistence agricultural performance. On contrary, subsistence agriculture in the district performed dismally. This was caused by changing rainfall patterns. The annual numbers of rain days declined but the intensity of rain increased. During the main growing season, the number of rain days declined in March and May but remained constant in April. Rainfall intensities declined in March but increased in April and May. The effect of the changing pattern in rainfall on subsistence agriculture was evidenced by decreased growing period and ineffective rainfall with overall negative effects on yields. This paper examines the changing pattern of rainfall and the associated impact on subsistence agriculture in Laikipia East District, Kenya.
I examined agrobiodiversity in smallholder cultural landscapes with the goal of offering new insights into management and policy options for the resilience-based in situ conservation and social-ecological sustainability of local, food-producing crop types, i.e., landraces. I built a general, integrative approach to focus on both land use and livelihood functions of crop landraces in the context of nontraditional, migration-related livelihoods amid global change. The research involved a multimethod, case-study design focused on a cultural landscape of maize, i.e., corn, growing in the Andes of central Bolivia, which is a global hot spot for this crop’s agrobiodiversity. Central questions included the following: (1) What are major agroecological functions and food-related services of the agrobiodiversity of Andean maize landraces, and how are they related to cultural landscapes and associated knowledge systems? (2) What are new migration-related livelihood groups, and how are their dynamic livelihoods propelled through global change, in particular international and national migration, linked to the use and cultural landscapes of agrobiodiversity? (3) What are management and policy options derived from the previous questions? Combined social-ecological services as both cultivation and food resources are found to function in relation to the cultural landscape. Results demonstrated major variations of maturation-based, phenologic traits and food-use properties that are cornerstones of the landrace-level agrobiodiversity of Andean maize. Knowledge of these parameters is widespread. Linkage of these production and consumption functions yields a major insight into dynamics of Andean maize agrobiodiversity. Concurrently, this smallholder cultural landscape has become increasingly dependent on new rural conditions, especially increased livelihood diversification and migration amid growing peri-urban influences. Viability of landrace-level maize agrobiodiversity between 2006 and 2012 is shown to have occurred amid a transition toward the integral roles of multiple migration-related groups, namely women farmers, consumers, and local business owners; migrants; field caretakers; and local in-migrant laborers. The nontraditional social networks among these livelihood groups must be incorporated into analysis and planning of the design, participation, and monitoring of management and policy options for cultural landscapes ensuring the use, in situ conservation, and sustainability, including ecosystem services, of food plant landraces in global agrobiodiversity hot spots.
Among other foci, recent research on adaptation to climatic variability and change has sought to evaluate the merit of adaptation generally, as well as the suitability of particular adaptations. Additionally, there is a need to better understand the likely uptake of adaptations. For example, diversification is one adaptation that has been identified as a potential farm-level response to climatic variability and change, but its adoption by farmers for this reason is not well understood. This paper serves two purposes. The first is to document the adoption of crop diversification in Canadian prairie agriculture for the period 1994–2002, reflect upon its strengths and limitations for managing a variety of risks, including climatic ones, and gauge its likely adoption by producers in response to anticipated climate change. The second purpose is to draw on this case to refine our current understanding of climate change adaptation more generally. Based upon data from over 15 000 operations, it was determined that individual farms have become more specialized in their cropping patterns since 1994, and this trend is unlikely to change in the immediate future, notwithstanding anticipated climate change and the known risk-reducing benefits of crop diversification. More broadly, the analysis suggests that ‘suitable’ and even ‘possible’ climate change adaptations need to be more rigorously assessed in order to understand their wider strengths and limitations.
The Ethiopian highlands are a center of diversity for numerous globally important crops. Heterogeneous landscapes, traditional agricultural practices, and inaccessibility have created and maintained diverse subsistence agroecosystems. We surveyed sixty-three farms in twelve communities of the Gamo highlands and found high levels of on-farm diversity of crop species and varieties. The extent and nature of this diversity are related to both ecological factors, namely elevation, and anthropogenic factors such as land-use history, accessibility to markets and extension, and strength and scale of farmer exchange networks. These human landscape features have the potential to both enhance and mediate effects of elevation and other environmental factors on crop diversity. The interaction of environmental and anthropogenic forces on the diversity of crops grown by farmers affects the strategies farmers employ to adapt their farming to changing conditions.
It is commonly thought that diverse agroecosystems are less prone to pest outbreaks because they support a high diversity of natural enemies. The idea that diversity stabilizes functional properties of communities to environmental perturbation is formalized in the ecological literature as the ''insurance hypothesis.'' Recently this hypothesis has been examined theoretically and in microcosm experiments. However it has not been tested empirically in an agroecosystem. Here we provide a test of the insurance hypothesis by examining insect predation by birds in coffee farms with different levels of plant diversity. Lepidopteran larvae were placed in coffee plants, and larval disappearance rates were measured within and outside bird exclosures in two farms with distinct levels of shade. Significant differences were found associated with the exclosure treatment, indicating that birds can potentially prevent pest outbreaks. Furthermore, the effect was significant only for the farm with a high floristic diversity, providing partial evidence in support of the insurance hypothesis.
Current climate change patterns may cause more extreme and variable climates in the future, threatening agricultural productivity in many areas of the world. Because many smallholder, rural farmers depend on subsistence, rainfed agriculture, priorities should be focused on coping mechanisms that protect these farmers from future vulnerabilities. This paper examines one possible adaptive strategy for coffee agriculture. A high (60–80%), medium (35–65%), and low (10–30%) shade coffee site were chosen in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico. Microclimate and soil moisture data were collected to examine the ability of shade tree cover in an agroforestry system to protect crop plants against extremes in microclimate and soil moisture fluctuation. Site and site by time effects were analyzed using linear mixed models to compare mean differences of microclimate measurements (temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation) by site as well as by time of the day. Although there were not large differences in seasonal means for these factors, site by time effects show that temperature, humidity, and solar radiation fluctuations increase significantly as shade cover decreases. Soil data showed significantly larger fluctuations in soil moisture gain and loss in the low shade site respective of patterns of precipitation. Overall, the amount of shade cover was directly related to the mitigation of variability in microclimate and soil moisture for the crop of interest. The use of agroforestry systems is an economically feasible way to protect crop plants from extremes in microclimate and soil moisture and should be considered a potential adaptive strategy for farmers in areas that will suffer from extremes in climate.
Because nitrogen is one of the major elements limiting growth of plants in agrosystems, large amounts of N fertilisers have
been used in the second half of the twentieth century. Chemical fertilisers have contributed to increasing crop yields and
food supply, but they have induced environmental damage such as nitrate pollution and wasting fossil fuel. The use of legumes
grown in rotations or intercropping is now regarded as an alternative and sustainable way of introducing N into lower input
agrosystems. Here we review agricultural practices, measurement methods and biological pathways involved in N cycling. We
show that plant roots interact intimately with soil microflora to convert the most abundant but relatively inert form of N,
atmospheric N2, into biological substrates available for growth of other plants, through two consecutive processes; namely, N2 fixation and N rhizodeposition. In intercropping, companion plants benefit from biological fixation by legumes and subsequent
transfer of N from legumes to non-legumes. This transfer from legumes to the release of N compounds by legume roots, a process
named rhizodeposition, then the uptake by the companion crop. The two main rhizodeposition pathways are (i) decomposition
and decay of nodules and root cells, and (ii) exudation of soluble N compounds by plant roots. The contribution of root N
and rhizodeposited N to the soil-N pool is difficult to measure, particularly in the field. Firstly, root N is often underestimated
because root recovery is problematic. Second, assessment of N rhizodeposition is challenging. Several 15N labelling methods have been performed for different legume species. Rhizodeposition of N, as a percentage of total plant
N, varied from 4 to 71%. The high variability of the results illustrates the need for more studies of the environmental and
genetic factors influencing the amount of N rhizodeposits released by legumes under field conditions.
The area given over to the cultivation of organic olive trees in Spain has greatly increased in the last ten years. The diffusion of organic farming is desirable since its principles are in line with the aim of the current EU Common Agricultural Policy to harmonise agrarian production and environmental protection, and to encourage the production of quality agricultural goods. This paper characterises organic olive growers and farms in the south of Spain and compares them to their conventional counterparts. Information was gathered in a survey of 322 olive growers. The organic growers differed from their conventional counterparts in that their orchards were less productive and in the more part-time nature of their dedication to agriculture. They were also younger, more involved in management and administration of the holding, attended more courses, were more commonly members of agricultural associations, received more information via the Andalusian Committee for Organic Agriculture (a control, certification and training organization), had a more negative opinion regarding the use of chemicals, and believed that organic agriculture required more time and effort but provided greater returns.
Recognition that climate change could have negative consequences for agricultural production has generated a desire to build
resilience into agricultural systems. One rational and cost-effective method may be the implementation of increased agricultural
crop diversification. Crop diversification can improve resilience in a variety of ways: by engendering a greater ability to
suppress pest outbreaks and dampen pathogen transmission, which may worsen under future climate scenarios, as well as by buffering
crop production from the effects of greater climate variability and extreme events. Such benefits point toward the obvious
value of adopting crop diversification to improve resilience, yet adoption has been slow. Economic incentives encouraging
production of a select few crops, the push for biotechnology strategies, and the belief that monocultures are more productive
than diversified systems have been hindrances in promoting this strategy. However, crop diversification can be implemented
in a variety of forms and at a variety of scales, allowing farmers to choose a strategy that both increases resilience and
provides economic benefits.
The Mount Kenya region offers a great deal of beautiful scenery and attracts tourists from all over the world. What these tourists may not see, however, is the crucial function of Mount Kenya as a water tower for its footzones and adjoining lowland areas. This function is becoming ever more crucial, as populations in these areas are growing at a rapid pace and new land use systems require far more water. These developments have set the stage for increasing conflicts over water resources; to make things worse, water is becoming ever scarcer, especially in the dry areas of the Laikipia Plateau and the Samburu Plains to the north and west of the mountain. This article summarizes the complex ecological and socioeconomic dynamics prevailing in the highland-Blowland system of Mount Kenya—the Ewaso Ng'iro North Basin—and presents a multilevel strategy for mitigating the emerging conflicts over water resources.
Résumé – Cet article analyse les choix possibles pour un exploitant agricole face à l'adoption des innovations disponibles sur le marché, il peut être : précurseur, sui-veur oui retardataire. Dans cette perspective, un modèle logit emboîté est estimé en utilisant un échantillon important d'agriculteurs néerlandais. Les résultats empiriques montrent que les caractéristiques structurelles (taille de l'exploitation, âge et solvabilité de l'exploitant) expliquent les différences de comportement d'adoption entre, d'une part, les précurseurs et les suiveurs, et, d'autre part, les retardataires. Cette étude montre également que les précurseurs et suiveurs ont des réactions similaires au regard des variables structurelles. Ils se différencient cepen-dant pour ce qui est des variables de comportement : les précurseurs utilisent davantage les sources externes d'information et ils sont bien plus impliqués dans le développement actuel des innovations. Summary – This paper analyses the choice of a farmer to be an innovator, an early adopter or a laggard (an adopter of mature technologies or a non-adopter) in the adop-tion of innovations that are available on the market. We estimate a nested logit model with data from a large sample of Dutch farmers. We find that structural characteristics (farm size, market position, solvency, age of the farmer) explain the difference in adop-tion behaviour between innovators and early adopters on the one hand and laggards on the other. We also find that early adopters and innovators do not differ from each other regarding these structural characteristics. However, they appear to differ in behavioural characteristics : innovators make more use of external sources of information and they are more involved in the actual development of innovations.
Biological diversity of agriculture consists of several analytic levels and spatial management scales that are subject to complex interactions with global change. The complexity of interactions is related to the bidirectional impacts and influences of global land use and climate change in combination with social-environmental shifts (globalization of agricultural development; market integration; technological change; and regulation through global treaties, policies, and institutions). This article develops a conceptual framework of the complexity of interactions using four thematic nodes—biological diversity in agriculture; global change; management and scale; and social-environmental adaptation, vulnerability, and resilience. It argues for the increased relevance of this framework. Linking expanded scientific research and policy to this group of conceptual nodes yields insight into the impacts of global change on biological diversity in agriculture and into the design of conservation strategies, monitoring approaches, and sustainability policies. Future policy must anticipate interactions of biological diversity, agroecosystem complexity, and global change stemming from the acceleration and integration of region-scale land-use intensification and disintensification.
In Mexico, coffee is cultivated on the coastal slopes of the central and southern parts of the country in areas where two or more types of vegetation make contact. Based on management level and vegetational and structural complexity, it is possible to distinguish five main coffee production systems in Mexico: two kinds of traditional shaded agroforests (with native trees), one commercially oriented polyspecific shaded system, and two “modern” systems (shaded and unshaded monocultures). Traditional shaded coffee is cultivated principally by small-scale, community-based growers, most of whom belong to some indigenous culture group. Through an exhaustive review of the literature, we found that traditional shaded coffee plantations are important repositories of biological richness for groups such as trees and epiphytes, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods. We evaluated the conservation role of these traditional shaded systems by estimating the percentage of the whole coffee area under traditional management, by reviewing the ecological and geographical distribution of coffee areas in Mexico, and by connecting the geographical distribution of these coffee areas with recognized centers of species richness and endemism. The assesment revealed that in Mexico, coffee fields are located in a biogeographically and ecologically strategic elevational belt that is an area of overlap between the tropical and temperate elements and of contact among the four main types of Mexican forests. We also found that between 60% and 70% of these coffee areas are under traditional management and that at least 14 of 155 priority regions selected by experts as having high numbers of species and endemics overlap with or are near traditional coffee-growing areas.
The primary objective of this study is to examine the effect of various factors on the use of conservation tillage. In the model developed here we have explicitly incorporated the Ervin and Ervin (1982) structure of soil conservation adoption into an integrated model. The first stage of the process is the recognition by the farm operator that soil erosion is a major problem. From the empirical model of this stage we obtain the predicted probability of perceiving a soil conservation problem which is then used as an explanatory variable in the adoption component of our model. By using a Tobit estimator for this latter component, we obtain information with respect to the effect of selected variables on both the probability of adoption and the "conditional intensity' of conservation tillage use. -Authors
In the agricultural Mid-west, riparian corridors are vital for protecting biodiversity and water quality. The cumulative management decisions of hundreds of private landowners have a tremendous impact on this riparian zone. This study of 268 farmers in a typical Mid-western watershed in Michigan looked at farmer's motivations for adopting conservation practices, their current management practices along their rivers and drains as well as their future management plans. The results of the study showed that farmers are intrinsically motivated to practise conservation by such factors as their attachment to their land, rather than by motivations such as receiving economic compensation. Farmers are also likely to engage in conservation practices that make their farm appear well-managed. Furthermore, those farmers with strong intrinsic motivations were likely to adopt conservation practices that protect streams, such as maintaining a woody vegetative buffer or practicing no-till farming. This study shows that protecting riparian resources in agricultural watersheds requires strategies for conservation that respect farmers' attachment to their land and their desire to practise good stewardship.
Addressing the Millennium Development Goals on food and poverty over the coming decade puts enormous pressure on the world’s
finite freshwater resources. Without water productivity (WP) gains, the additional freshwater in agriculture will amount to
5,600km3year−1 in 2050. This is three times the current global irrigation use. This paper focuses on the underlying processes and future
opportunities of WP gains in water scarcity prone and poverty stricken savannah regions of the world. The paper studies the
consumptive (green) WP dynamics rainfed farming systems, and shows that the often assumed linear relationship between evapotranspiration
(ET) and yield (Y) does not translate into constant WP over a wide range of yields. Similarly, crop transpiration (T) and
Y show non-linearity under on-farm and low yield conditions. This non-linearity is validated against several on-farm research
experiments in semi-arid rainfed farming systems. With integrated soil and water management, focusing on dry spell mitigation
and soil fertility can potentially more than double on-farm yields, while simultaneously improve green (ET) WP and productive
green (T) WP. Through the adoption of appropriate soil and water management in semi-arid smallholder farming systems, crop
yields improve and result in improved livelihoods and WP gains.
Many studies have stressed the importance of trees to rural households. Few, however, have focused on actual numbers and densities
of trees in different land-use systems. Based on community-level participatory research in six communities, semi-structured
household interviews and full-farm fruit tree inventories, this study aims to understand farmers’ tree-planting strategies.
Relationships between the diversity, number and density of fruit trees and farm size, land-use system, land tenure, distance
from the homestead, proximity to the forest, market access and household characteristics are investigated. The key factors
determining the differences in tree-growing strategies between communities appear to be market access, land use and access
to forest resources. Within communities, differences between individual households were less easy to explain but tenure was
important as was farm size. Smaller farms had higher fruit tree densities, a relationship that was particularly strong in
communities with good market access. Overall there was a great deal of variability both within and between communities and
many of the factors affecting tree-planting decisions were found to be highly inter-related. Despite this complexity, trees
on farm play an important role in rural household's livelihoods. Therefore, expansion of tree cultivation should be recognized
as a promising pathway to achieve increased income and food production by policy makers and extensionists alike. In addition
to improved tree propagation and management techniques, farmers should be strengthened in the processing and marketing of
agroforestry tree products and more emphasis should be placed on the development of tree enterprises. By doing so, farmers
will be able to earn a more important and consistent income from fruit trees, contributing to the Millennium Development Goals.
Many smallholder farmers in vulnerable areas continue to face complex challenges in adoption and adaptation of resource management
and conservation strategies. Although much has been learned from diverse experiences in sustainable resource management, there
is still inadequate understanding of the market, policy and institutional failures that shape and structure farmer incentives
and investment decisions. The policy and institutional failures exacerbate market failures, locking smallholder resource users
into a low level equilibrium that perpetuates poverty and land degradation. Improved market access that raises the returns
to land and labor is often the driving force for adoption of new practices in agriculture. Market linkages, access to credit
and availability of pro-poor options for beneficial conservation are critical factors in stimulating livelihood and sustainability-enhancing
investments. Future interventions need to promote joint innovations that ensure farmer experimentation and adaptation of new
technologies and careful consideration of market, policy and institutional factors that stimulate widespread smallholder investments.
Future projects should act as ‘toolboxes’, giving essential support to farmers to devise complementary solutions based on
available options. Addressing the externalities and institutional failures that prevent private and joint investments for
management of agricultural landscapes will require new kinds of institutional mechanisms for empowering communities through
local collective action that would ensure broad participation and equitable distributions of the gains from joint conservation
investments.
Intercropping, the agricultural practice of cultivating two or more crops in the same space at the same time, is an old and commonly used cropping practice which aims to match efficiently crop demands to the available growth resources and labor. The most common advantage of intercropping is the production of greater yield on a given piece of land by making more efficient use of the available growth resources using a mixture of crops of different rooting ability, canopy structure, height, and nutrient requirements based on the complementary utilization of growth resources by the component crops. Moreover, intercropping improves soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation with the use of legumes, increases soil conservation through greater ground cover than sole cropping, and provides better lodging resistance for crops susceptible to lodging than when grown in monoculture. Intercrops often reduce pest incidence and improve forage quality by increasing crude protein yield of forage. Intercropping provides insurance against crop failure or against unstable market prices for a given commodity, especially in areas subject to extreme weather conditions such as frost, drought, and flood. Thus, it offers greater financial stability than sole cropping, which makes the system particularly suitable for labor-intensive small farms. Besides, intercropping allows lower inputs through reduced fertilizer and pesticide requirements, thus minimizing environmental impacts of agriculture. However, intercropping has some disadvantages such as the selection of the appropriate crop species and the appropriate sowing densities, including extra work in preparing and planting the seed mixture and also extra work during crop management practices, including harvest. The selection of an appropriate intercropping system for each case is quite complex as the success of intercropping systems depend much on the interactions between the component species, the available management practices, and the environmental conditions. Plant breeding can contribute determinedly to increase of productivity of intercropping systems by investigating and exploiting the genetic variability to intercrop adaptation. This paper provides an overall view and evaluation of annual intercropping, summarizing its main advantages supported by a number of key examples from the literature which point out its great value in the context of sustainable agriculture.
We developed interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas (excluding Antarctica) at a spatial resolution of 30 arc s (often referred to as 1-km spatial resolution). The climate elements considered were monthly precipitation and mean, minimum, and maximum temperature. Input data were gathered from a variety of sources and, where possible, were restricted to records from the 1950-2000 period. We used the thin-plate smoothing spline algorithm implemented in the ANUSPLIN package for interpolation, using latitude, longitude, and elevation as independent variables. We quantified uncertainty arising from the input data and the interpolation by mapping weather station density, elevation bias in the weather stations, and elevation variation within grid cells and through data partitioning and cross validation. Elevation bias tended to be negative (stations lower than expected) at high latitudes but positive in the tropics. Uncertainty is highest in mountainous and in poorly sampled areas. Data partitioning showed high uncertainty of the surfaces on isolated islands, e.g. in the Pacific. Aggregating the elevation and climate data to 10 arc min resolution showed an enormous variation within grid cells, illustrating the value of high-resolution surfaces. A comparison with an existing data set at 10 arc min resolution showed overall agreement, but with significant variation in some regions. A comparison with two high-resolution data sets for the United States also identified areas with large local differences, particularly in mountainous areas. Compared to previous global climatologies, ours has the following advantages: the data are at a higher spatial resolution (400 times greater or more); more weather station records were used; improved elevation data were used; and more information about spatial patterns of uncertainty in the data is available. Owing to the overall low density of available climate stations, our surfaces do not capture of all variation that may occur at a resolution of 1 km, particularly of precipitation in mountainous areas. In future work, such variation might be captured through knowledge-based methods and inclusion of additional co-variates, particularly layers obtained through remote sensing.
In this paper we present a conceptual framework of individual farmers' decisions on adoption of a new innovation, using the example of a new crop species. This framework overcomes the shortcomings of a number of previous studies. It represents the adoption of an innovation as a dynamic decision problem spanning at least several years. The model allows for generation of potentially valuable information from trialing the innovation. The value of such trials is due to development of skills (e.g. in agronomic management of a crop) as well as reduction in uncertainty about the innovation's long‐term profitability. The framework also includes the farmer's personal perceptions, managerial abilities and risk preferences in order to properly represent the adoption decision process. The influences of socio‐demographic factors within the framework are discussed.
This new edition builds on the explosion of research on sustainable agriculture since the late 1980s. By separating myth from reality, Miguel Altieri extracts the key principles of sustainable agriculture and expounds on management systems that “really work.” Providing case studies of sustainable rural development in developing countries, he goes beyond a mere description of practices to include data that reveal the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of alternative projects. Each chapter of Agroecology has been enriched and updated with the latest research results from around the world. New emphasis has been placed on such issues as the ecological economics of agriculture, policy changes needed for promoting sustainable agriculture, rural development in the Third World, the role of biodiversity in agriculture, and new research methodologies.
Data were collected from a sample of 1305 farm owner/operators in the Scioto River watershed of Ohio to examine the use of conventional and conservation farming practices. The theoretical perspective used to guide the study was developed from selected components of diffusion and the farm structure models. The findings revealed that the theoretical perspective had limited utility for predicting use of farming practices employed at the farm level. The magnitude of explained variance in most of the statistical models suggests that alternative theoretical explanations must be explored in future research focused on adoption of farming practices. -Authors
This paper employs diffusion and farm-structure variables to explain variations in Montana farmers' adoption of two kinds of sustainable agricultural practices: those involving intensive management and those which require fewer purchased inputs. While perceived profitability was found to be the most important factor affecting adoption of both, the independent variables had different effects on beliefs about net economic returns as well as on adoption of the two practices. Type of farm enterprise played a larger role in adoption of the low-input practices than the management intensive ones; access to information was more important for the latter. Implications for policy are discussed. -Authors
The ecological consequences of biodiversity loss have aroused considerable interest and controversy during the past decade.
Major advances have been made in describing the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem processes, in identifying
functionally important species, and in revealing underlying mechanisms. There is, however, uncertainty as to how results obtained
in recent experiments scale up to landscape and regional levels and generalize across ecosystem types and processes. Larger
numbers of species are probably needed to reduce temporal variability in ecosystem processes in changing environments. A major
future challenge is to determine how biodiversity dynamics, ecosystem processes, and abiotic factors interact.
This paper reviews the agroecosystems and agricultural biodiversity in Southern Africa and highlights the importance of the agricultural landscape in biodiversity conservation and the important role that the traditional farming systems play in conserving biodiversity. The review established that agrobiodiversity is of great importance to both small scale and large commercial farmers in Southern Africa through its provision of ecosystem services. The paper also highlights the significant loss of agrobiodiversity as a result of human population pressure and the transition from traditional mixed farming systems which is characterized with high agrobiodiversity, to modern monoculture farming resulting in decline of species diversity. Although concerted efforts are being made to promote the sustainable use and management of this agrobiodiversity, there need to have a multi-stakeholder approach so that conservation efforts are successful, a role that is currently played by the SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre in Southern African conservation of agrobiodiversity.
Spate irrigation is increasingly recognized as contributing to potential of accessible water-resource use, local food production, and resource sustainability. This study constructs an approach to spate irrigation as a landscape technology by selectively fusing concepts of resilience ecology, political ecology, and actor-network theory. It is applied to a case study of the Calicanto area (Cochabamba, Bolivia) with emphasis on the 1990–1993 period. Calicanto spate irrigation provided an effective landscape technology over more than 15km2 and 3500 fields via a 65-km canal network, thus comprising the largest spate-irrigated area of Latin America. Use of this irrigation technology was linked to climate variability and environmental variation as well as landscape features, livelihood diversification including widespread migration, and innovative high-agrobiodiversity land use, in addition to community resource management, settlement patterning, population density, and production intensity. Notwithstanding social–ecological resilience and versatility, the trajectory of this irrigation underwent major change with new waterworks launched in 1993. Key lessons for the related social–ecological sciences, development policy, and sustainability perspectives include: (i) versatility and viability of spate irrigation hinges on multiple social–ecological links; and (ii) its limitations include eclipse via irrigation trajectories lacking social–ecological analytic and conceptual capacities, and widespread albeit largely unacknowledged biases against the landscape technology of spate irrigation.
In an experiment that directly manipulated grassland plant species richness and composition, decreased plant species richness (''diversity'') increased pathogen load (the percentage of leaf area infected by species-specific foliar pathogens across the plant community) in 1998. Pathogen load was almost three times greater in the average mono- culture than in the average plot planted with 24 grassland plant species, an approximately natural diversity. Eleven individual diseases increased in severity (percentage of leaf area infected by a single disease) at lower plant species richness, and severity of only one disease was positively correlated with diversity. For 10 of the 11 diseases whose severity was negatively related to diversity, disease severity was positively correlated with host abun- dance, and in six of these cases, species diversity had no effect on disease severity after controlling for the effects of host abundance. These results suggest that increased abun- dances of individual host species at lower species diversity increased disease transmission and severity. In 1996 and 1997, similar results for a smaller number of diseases sampled were found in this experiment and another similar one. Although the effect of diversity on disease was highly significant, considerable variance in pathogen load remained among plots of a given diversity level. Much of this residual variance was explained by community characteristics that were a function of the species composition of the communities (the identity of species present vs. those lost). Specifically, communities that lost less disease- prone species had higher pathogen loads; this effect explained more variance in pathogen load than did diversity. Also, communities that lost the species dominant at high diversity had higher pathogen loads, presumably because relaxed competition allowed greater in- creases in host abundances, but this effect was weak. Among plant species, disease prone- ness appeared to be determined more by regional than local processes, because it was better correlated with frequency of the plant species' populations across the region than with local abundance or frequency across the state. In total, our results support the hypothesis that decreased species diversity will increase foliar pathogen load if this increases host abun- dance and, therefore, disease transmission. Additionally, changes in community character- istics determined by species composition will strongly influence pathogen load.
For centuries, traditional farmers have developed diverse and locally adapted agricultural systems, managing them with ingenious practices that often result in both community food security and the conservation of agrobiodiversity. This strategy of minimizing risk stabilizes yields, promotes dietary diversity, and maximizes returns using low levels of technology and limited resources. These microcosms of agricultural heritage still cover no less than 10 million ha worldwide, providing cultural and ecological services not only to rural inhabitants, but to mankind generally. These services include the preservation of traditional farming knowledge, local crop and animal varieties, and native forms of sociocultural organization. By studying these systems, ecologists can enhance their knowledge of the dynamics of complex systems, especially the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function and practical principles for the design of more sustainable agroecosystems appropriate to small farmers. Novel agroecosystem designs have already been modeled on successful traditional farming systems.
The global shift to small- and medium-scale irrigation is potentially compatible with high-agrobiodiversity production. A case study of the Cochabamba region in central Bolivia between 1990 and 2002 is designed to examine new interactions of irrigation with agrobiodiversity through change and continuity of landscape structures and functions. Irrigation change contributed to increased commercial potato and peach farming. Still persistent interactions of canal woodland habitat (landscape matrix including uncultivated or “wild” agrobiodiversity) with patches of cultivated agrobiodiversity helped ensure nutrient transfer and likelihood of gene flow. Farmers' field-level responses continued to include agrobiodiversity, especially multiple farmer varieties (FVs) of Andean maize. Capacities of social–ecological resilience in the period from 1990 to 2002 are estimated to have been moderate in anthropogenic canal woodlands (> 95 percent continued cover, albeit with reduced connectivity) and cultivated agrobiodiversity (viable with local loss of Andean potato FVs) and moderate-high in wild agrobiodiversity (viable with reduced capacity due to modified weed management). Indigenous “ethnodevelopment” applied to Andean community irrigation contributed positively to social–ecological resilience, albeit with significant limitations. Findings recommend that global change policies build emphasis on the interactions of water resource and agrobiodiversity management.
Research on the adoption of rural innovations is reviewed and interpreted through a cross-disciplinary lens to provide practical guidance for research, extension and policy relating to conservation practices. Adoption of innovations by landholders is presented as a dynamic learning process. Adoption depends on a range of personal, social, cultural and economic factors, as well as on characteristics of the innovation itself. Adoption occurs when the landholder perceives that the innovation in question will enhance the achievement of their personal goals. A range of goals is identifiable among landholders, including economic, social and environmental goals. Innovations are more likely to be adopted when they have a high 'relative advantage' (perceived superiority to the idea or practice that it supersedes), and when they are readily trialable (easy to test and learn about before adoption). Non-adoption or low adoption of a number of conservation practices is readily explicable in terms of their failure to provide a relative advantage (particularly in economic terms) or a range of difficulties that landholders may have in trialing them.
Résumé
The dominance and persistency of family farms in industrialized nonsocialist countries can only be explained by the theory that farm households organize agricultural and household production, and also very often off-farm employment, efficiently. The organizational unity of farms and households in agriculture has to be seen as a consequence of limited economies of size relative to the size of the family‘s labour capacity. Economies of size are increasing as well as labour capacity due to labour saving technological innovations. Smaller than technically ’optimal‘ farm sizes are further to be explained by lower transaction costs of family farms vis-à-vis hired labour farms. Future changes of these determinants and their implications for family farming are discussed.
A model of divisible technology adoption under incomplete information dissemination and output uncertainty is developed. We identify economic and subjective factors affecting technology adoption and its intensity. Empirical estimation employs a mixed dichotomous-continuous framework with nonrandom sample selection. Producers' adoption intensity is conditional on their knowing about and deciding to adopt the new technology. Using survey data on bST (bovine somatotropin) adoption among Texas dairy producers, we find that larger and more educated operators are likely to adopt more intensively. Traditional dichotomous adoption models without sample selection significantly overestimate the adoption rate.
The paper presents a model of farm decisions which arise when a farm is faced with two interrelated innovations. The innovations
are distinguished by their returns to scale, and may be adopted individually. It is shown that under conditions of uncertainty
or a binding credit constraint, the intuitive concept of innovations' complementarity may be misleading, and a more relevant
definition of complementarity is derived. The latter helps to explain why policies which enhance adoption of one innovation
may discourage adoption of the other, even when the two innovations seem to complement each other.
Agricultural tillage practices are important human-induced activities that can alter carbon emissions from agricultural soils and have the potential to contribute significantly to reductions in greenhouse gas emission (Lal et al., The Potential of U.S. Cropland, 1998). This research investigates the expected costs of sequestering carbon in agricultural soils under different subsidy and market-based policies. Using detailed National Resources Inventory data, we estimate the probability that farmers adopt conservation tillage practices based on a variety of exogenous characteristics and profit from conventional practices. These estimates are used with physical models of carbon sequestration to estimate the subsidy costs of achieving increased carbon sequestration with alternative subsidy schemes.
Trends in community composition and diversity of neotropical forests as measured by a series of samples of (1) plants ≥ 2.5 cm dbh in 0.1 ha, (2) plants over 10 cm dbh in 1-ha plots, and (3) complete local florulas are analyzed as a function of various environmental parameters. These trends are also compared with those found in similar data sets from other continents. Altogether the basic 0.1-ha data sets are reported for 87 sites in 25 countries on six continents and several islands. New data from ten 1-ha tree plots in upper Amazonia are also compared with each other and with similar data from the literature. Some noteworthy trends include: (1) Lowland neotropical plant species richness is generally far more tightly correlated with precipitation than with edaphic factors. (2) The nearly linear increase of lowland neotropical plant species richness with precipitation reaches an asymptote (community saturation?) at about 4,000 mm of annual rainfall. (3) Although the species represented in adjacent forest types on different substrates may change dramatically, diversity tends to change relatively little in upper Amazonia. (4) The species present at different sites are very different but the families represented and their diversities are highly predictable from environmental parameters. (5) On an altitudinal gradient in the tropical Andes there is a sharp, essentially linear decrease in diversity from about 1,500 m to near the upper limit of forest above 3,000 m. (6) There is no indication of a "mid-elevation bulge" in diversity, at least not in the sampled habit groups. (7) Even near timberline, montane tropical forests are as diverse as the most diverse temperate forests. (8) Moist subtropical forests are markedly less diverse than their inner-tropical equivalents, but dry subtropical forests in Mexico are apparently richer in species than inner-tropical dry forests. (9) Central African forests are about as species rich as neotropical forests with similar amounts of precipitation, but forests in tropical West Africa are relatively depauperate. (10) Tropical Australasian forests are no more diverse than equivalent neotropical forests; the world's highest tree species diversity is in upper Amazonia, not Southeast Asia. (11) Contrary to accepted opinion, equivalent forests on the three continents are similar in plant species richness and (with a very few notable exceptions) floristic composition but are markedly different in structure. The predictability of the floristic compositions and diversities of tropical forest plant communities seems strong, albeit circumstantial, evidence that these communities are at ecological and perhaps evolutionary equilibrium, despite indications that certain aspects of their diversity are generated and maintained stochastically.
THIS REVIEW EXPLORES BOTH ECOLOGICAL THEORY AND THE BEHAVIOR OF NATURAL SYSTEMS TO SEE IF DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES OF THEIR BEHAVIOR CAN YIELD DIFFERENT INSIGHTS THAT ARE USEFUL FOR BOTH THEORY AND PRACTICE. THE RESILIENCE AND STABILITY VIEWPOINTS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS CAN YIELD VERY DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES. THE STABILITY VIEW EMPHASIZES THE EQUILIBRIUM, THE MAINTENANCE OF A PREDICTABLE WORLD, AND THE HARVESTING OF NATURE'S EXCESS PRODUCTION WITH AS LITTLE FLUCTUATION AS POSSIBLE. THE RESILIENCE VIEW EMPHASIZES DOMAINS OF ATTRACTION AND THE NEED FOR PERSISTENCE. BUT EXTINCTION IS NOT PURELY A RANDOM EVENT: IT RESULTS FROM THE INTERACTION OF RANDOM EVENTS WITH THOSE DETERMINISTIC FORCES THAT DEFINE THE SHAPE, SIZE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOMAIN OF ATTRACTION. THE VERY APPROACH, THEREFORE, THAT ASSURES A STABLE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED YIELD OF A RENEWABLE RESOURCE, MIGHT SO CHANGE THESE CONDITIONS THAT THE RESILIENCE IS LOST OR IS REDUCED SO THAT A CHANCE AND RARE EVENT THAT PREVIOUSLY COULD BE ABSORBED CAN TRIGGER A SUDDEN DRAMATIC CHANGE AND LOSS OF STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE SYSTEM. A MANAGEMENT APPROACH BASED ON RESILIENCE, ON THE OTHER HAND, WOULD EMPHASIZE THE NEED TO KEEP OPTIONS OPEN, THE NEED TO VIEW EVENTS IN A REGIONAL RATHER THAN A LOCAL CONTEXT, AND THE NEED TO EMPHASIZE HETEROGENEITY. THE RESILIENCE FRAMEWORK DOES NOT REQUIRE A PRECISE CAPACITY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE BUT ONLY A QUALITATIVE CAPACITY TO DEVISE SYSTEMS THAT CAN ABSORB AND ACCOMMODATE FUTURE EVENTS IN WHATEVER UNEXPECTED FORM THEY MAY TAKE.
Sustainable cropping systems use crop diversity as a foundation to reduce the environmental impacts of agrichemicals and risks of pest and disease outbreaks. Although greater diversity in the agricultural landscape is an important goal, the decisions of individual farmers determine the diversity of crops used in each farming system. Therefore, it is essential to gain an understanding of important factors in farmers' decisions as part of any proposed solution to low crop diversity. Our objective was to develop and test an integrated socioeconomic model of farmers' decisions on crop rotations as an indicator of overall crop diversity. The model incorporated measures of farmers' attitudes, net household income, control over decisions, social norms, and regional location to address the social, economic, and environmental factors of crop diversity. Mail survey responses from 197 farmers from a western Corn Belt county in 1998 supplied the data for the analysis. Location had the strongest influence on crop diversity in the model, on the basis of a standardized beta statistic of 0.46 in the ordinary least squares regression analysis. Farmers in the region with the highest degree of sloping land had significantly higher crop diversity than farmers in the most productive, relatively flat area. Lower household net income and positive attitudes toward crop rotations were also associated with higher crop diversity. We believe social norms and control would exert more influence in uncertain decisions. The results of this study suggest that, to maintain and possibly expand crop diversity in the future, targeting farmers in sloping landscapes with positive attitudes toward rotations would be the best approach to focus economic incentives for diverse crop rotations and technical support from Extension. In any effort to support crop diversity greater than a typical cornsoybean rotation, it is also critical to preserve integrated forage/crop/livestock systems. Further adaptation and application of our behavioral model in other settings would help to better evaluate, understand, and target the integrated decisions people make relative to crop diversity.
Securing sustainable livelihood conditions and reducing the risk of outmigration in savanna ecosystems hosted in the tropical semiarid regions is of fundamental importance for the future of humanity in general. Although precipitation in tropical drylands, or savannas, is generally more significant than one might expect, these regions are subject to considerable rainfall variability which causes frequent periods of water deficiency. This paper addresses the twin problems of “drought and desertification” from a water perspective, focusing on the soil moisture (green water) and plant water uptake deficiencies. It makes a clear distinction between long-term climate change, meteorological drought, and agricultural droughts and dry spells caused by rainfall variability and land degradation. It then formulates recommendations to better cope with and to build resilience to droughts and dry spells. Coping with desertification requires a new conceptual framework based on green-blue water resources to identify hydrological opportunities in a sea of constraints. This paper proposes an integrated land/water approach to desertification where ecosystem management supports agricultural development to build social-ecological resilience to droughts and dry spells. This approach is based on the premise that to combat desertification, focus should shift from reducing trends of land degradation in agricultural systems to water resource management in savannas and to landscape-wide ecosystem management.
Abstract This paper employs diffusion and farm-structure variables to explain variations in Montana farmers' adoption of two kinds of sustainable agricultural practices: those involving intensive management and those which require fewer purchased inputs. While perceived profitability was found to be the most important factor affecting adoption of both, the independent variables had different effects on beliefs about net economic returns as well as on adoption of the two practices. Type of farm enterprise played a larger role in adoption of the low-input practices than the management intensive ones; access to information was more important for the latter. Implications for policy are discussed.
Agrobiodiversity can provide natural insurance to risk-averse farmers by reducing the variance of crop yield, and to society at large by reducing the uncertainty in the provision of public-good ecosystem services, for example, CO2 storage. We analyze the choice of agrobiodiversity by risk-averse farmers who have access to financial insurance, and study the implications for agrienvironmental policy design when on-farm agrobiodiversity generates a positive risk externality. While increasing environmental risk leads private farmers to increase their level of on-farm agrobiodiversity, the level of agrobiodiversity in the laissez-faire equilibrium remains inefficiently low. We show how either one of the two agrienvironmental policy instruments can cure this risk-related market failure: an ex ante Pigouvian subsidy on on-farm agrobiodiversity and an ex post payment-by-result for the actual provision of public environmental benefits. In the absence of regulation, welfare may increase rather than decrease with increasing environmental risk, if the agroecosystem is characterized by a high natural insurance function, low costs, and large external benefits of agrobiodiversity.
Natural ecosystems, whose components are the results of natural selection, are sustainable; most are productive, responsive
to pests, and retentive of nutrients. Thus, they are appropriate models on which to base the design of new systems of land
use. Abiotic and biotic stressors are related non-linearly; the nadir of total stress being mid-way along a gradient of environmental
harshness. Superimposing the stress functions on Holdridge's life zone chart yields four broad categories of environments
for agriculture: climates where annual rainfall is similar to potential evapotranspiration, plus three other categories that
are either too cold, too arid, or too wet. Extremely cold lands have no potential for agriculture. Lands that are arid or
infertile can be used successfully, although the cost of compensating for environmental limitations increases exponentially
with increasing abiotic stress. Grazing animals (which act as trophic buffers between people and environment) have proven
successful in dry and infertile environments. The humid tropical lowlands epitomise environments of low abiotic stress but
overwhelming biotic intricacy. Here it pays to imitate natural systems rather than struggle to impose simplicity on ecosystems
that are inherently complex. The keys to success are to (i) channel productivity into outputs of nutritional and economic
importance, (ii) maintain adequate diversity to compensate for losses in a system simple enough to be horticulturally manageable,
(iii) manage plants and herbivores to facilitate associational resistance and not associational susceptibility, and (iv) use
perennial plants to maintain soil fertility, guard against erosion, and make full use of resources.
In recent years and in some situations the status of soil organic matter (SOM) has deteriorated considerably due to long periods
of continuous cultivation and limited external inputs in the form of mineral fertilizers. Deterioration of SOM varies by agro-ecological
zones, by soil types and by cropping patterns. It is more intense in East Africa, followed by coastal West Africa and Southern
Africa and least intensive in the Sahel and Central Africa. It is also more serious in areas under low-input agriculture irrespective
of the prevailing cropping system. The major consequence of the decrease in SOM in the tropics is lower agricultural productivity
with a direct negative effect on food security. While biophysical dynamics of SOM have been extensively covered in the literature,
social considerations have not received similar attention. This paper examines the social, economic and policy factors associated
with the management of tropical soil organic matter. Empirical data from a range of environments in Africa show that SOM improvement
options yield a positive return to land as well as labour. However, there are a number of constraints. Social constraints
are related to the large quantities of organic matter that are required (case of farmyard manure), the competitive uses for
the material (case of crop residues), land and labour requirements, and gender-related issues. From a policy stand point,
unsecured tenure rights together with price distortions and other market failures may be important constraints. Challenges
for sustainable management of SOM are identified. These include management conflicts, land tenure arrangements, the divergence
in goals between individuals and society, land and labour requirements, inadequate support systems for land users, profitability
issues, the role of subsidies, and the absence of national action plans. A number of opportunities are identified that could
enhance the improvement or maintenance of SOM. These include: exploring the need and potential role of community-based SOM
management practices; development of an integrated plant nutrient management strategy involving both organic and inorganic
inputs; and development of concrete national action plans. It is argued that because externalities of SOM improvement or maintenance
extend beyond the farmer's fields, SOM investment may require cost sharing between individuals and the society. Policies on
subsidies need to be reconsidered. Research priorities are identified that require closer collaboration between scientists
from a variety of disciplines.