Adoption and adaptation of natural resource management innovations in smallholder agriculture: reflections on key lessons and best practices

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. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Do EU pesticide standards promote environmentally-friendly production of fresh export vegetables in developing countries? The evidence from Kenyan green bean industry

Developed countries are major markets for developing country fresh produce. Demand by developed country consumers for spotless produce has encouraged developing country consumers to rely increasingly on pesticides in producing fresh export vegetables. However developed country pesticide standards enacted in response to reports of increased farmer and farm worker pesticide poisoning and the food safety scandals of the 1980s and 1990s require changes in the way growers use pesticides. The EU has especially developed stringent food safety standards relating to, among other things, pesticide usage. Under EU pesticide standards (EU-PS) farmers are trained by their buyers on safe use of pesticides and then closely monitored under contract. This paper looks at the impact of these standards on developing country farmers’ use of alternative pest management practices, pesticide protective clothing and the actual usage of pesticides. It finds that compliance with EU-PS increases the use of alternative pest management practices and protective clothing. However, EU-PS has mixed effect on the quantity of pesticides used. The paper also finds that farmer’s education and access to information play an important role in the use of alternative pest management practices. The paper concludes that EU-PS encourage the use of alternative pest management practices and pesticide protective gear in production of fresh export vegetables. The findings imply that EU-PS promote environmentally-friendly methods of production of fresh export vegetables in developing countries.     

Feeding the world sustainably: knowledge governance and sustainable agriculture in the Argentine Pampas

This article discusses the role of knowledge governance arrangements in the mainstreaming of sustainable practices, in particular, in the creation, sharing and use of integrated and contextualized knowledge. That is, knowledge which accounts for the social, economic, institutional, and ecological dimensions of potentially sustainable practices, and which considers the need to adapt generic practices to the sustainability requirements of specific places. An actor-centered approach is proposed for the study of the historical evolution of knowledge governance arrangements in order to understand their role in the adoption of sustainable practices. The approach is applied to explain the rapid adoption of no-till agriculture in the Argentine Pampas. A radical knowledge governance transformation occurring in this region during the 1990s led to increasing knowledge exchange and pushing sustainability practices to the top of key actors’ agendas. This embracing of no-till agriculture illustrates the crucial role played by farmers’ associations as boundary organizations: linking farmers with actors specialized in the generation of scientific knowledge and technology. This case reveals that sustainability transitions can be fostered through knowledge governance arenas characterized by: (a) promoting public–private collaboration through boundary organizations, (b) assigning private actors a leading role in the adoption of sustainability practices at the production unit scale, (c) fostering the public sector competence in regional and socio-ecological research, and (d) addressing the heterogeneous needs of knowledge users. However, the case also shows that the success of no-till agriculture in the Pampas is pushing the agriculturization of surrounding areas where this practice is largely unsustainable. This finding suggests that present knowledge governance arrangements fail to contextualize practices that are potentially sustainable.     

Describing and measuring ethno-entomological knowledge of rice pests: tradition and change among Asian rice farmers

The paper presents a methodology that guided several ethnoentomological research projects and goes on to examine and compare the results from two independent research locations in Asia. The first location is in the Philippines, a Green Revolution area that has been heavily impacted by extension messages and insecticide use. The second location is in Nepal which has a traditional subsistence orientation and has remained widely unaffected by agricultural modernization. The paper emphasizes the differences and similarities of the results from the two sites and discusses the role of the methodology and methods used in capturing ethnoentomological knowledge, particularly with regard to insect pests in rice. The results of both investigations share the importance of agronomic criteria among farmers in insect classification and sorting criteria, thus highlighting the relevance of functional criteria. Farmers at both research sites have difficulties in identifying the lifecycles of insects. We discuss the issues of tradition and change in farmer entomological knowledge and providing support to the knowledge base of farmers though programs like IPM-Farmer Field Schools as opposed to broad-based recommendations for crop pest management.Article type: MS-ENVI-SI ETHNOSCI MS04 Contribution to Environment, Development & Sustainability, special issue ‘Bridging the gap between natural resources and their human management for the future using ethnoscience’.     

Traditional management and conservation of shea trees (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vitellaria paradoxa</Emphasis> subspecies <Emphasis Type="Italic">nilotica</Emphasis>) in Uganda

Traditional practices are universally recognised as a basis for conservation of biodiversity. However, such practices are often not included in natural resource conservation policies. This study assessed local conservation practices of shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) within different farming systems in Uganda and developed conservation guidelines for the species. The assessment involved 300 respondents, 15 focus groups and 41 key informants. Content analysis was used to identify the most important management and conservation practices. Local uses were categorised on the basis of shea tree products while differences in conservation practices were analysed using the Friedman test. The results show that eight shea tree products are used for 36 different purposes. Respondents’ age significantly influenced their knowledge about the shea tree. Traditional conservation practices include on-farm retention during cultivation and the use of folklore (mainly taboos), customs and rituals. Traditional management practices include weeding, bush burning, pollarding and pruning. Based on the current management and traditional conservation practices, a framework for the conservation of shea trees is proposed for integration into conservation policy decisions.     

Soil management practices for sustainable agro-ecosystems

A doubling of the global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses a huge challenge for the sustainability of both food production and global and local environments. Today’s agricultural technologies may be increasing productivity to meet world food demand, but they may also be threatening agricultural ecosystems. For the global environment, agricultural systems provide both sources and sinks of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which include carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). This paper addresses the importance of soil organic carbon (SOC) for agro-ecosystems and GHG uptake and emission in agriculture, especially SOC changes associated with soil management. Soil management strategies have great potential to contribute to carbon sequestration, since the carbon sink capacity of the world’s agricultural and degraded soil is 50–66% of the historic carbon loss of 42–72 Pg (1 Pg=10¹⁵ g), although the actual carbon storage in cultivated soil may be smaller if climate changes lead to increasing mineralization. The importance of SOC in agricultural soil is, however, not controversial, as SOC helps to sustain soil fertility and conserve soil and water quality, and organic carbon compounds play a variety of roles in the nutrient, water, and biological cycles. No-tillage practices, cover crop management, and manure application are recommended to enhance SOC storage and to contribute to sustainable food production, which also improves soil quality. SOC sequestration could be increased at the expense of increasing the amount of non-CO₂ GHG emissions; however, soil testing, synchronized fertilization techniques, and optimum water control for flooding paddy fields, among other things, can reduce these emissions. Since increasing SOC may also be able to mitigate some local environmental problems, it will be necessary to have integrated soil management practices that are compatible with increasing SOM management and controlling soil residual nutrients. Cover crops would be a critical tool for sustainable soil management because they can scavenge soil residual nitrogen and their ecological functions can be utilized to establish an optimal nitrogen cycle. In addition to developing soil management strategies for sustainable agro-ecosystems, some political and social approaches will be needed, based on a common understanding that soil and agro-ecosystems are essential for a sustainable society.     

Interdependence in rainwater management technologies: an analysis of rainwater management adoption in the Blue Nile Basin

In the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopian highlands, rainfall distribution is extremely uneven both spatially and temporally. Drought frequently results in crop failure, while high rainfall intensities result in low infiltration and high runoff causing soil erosion and land degradation. These combined factors contribute to low agricultural productivity and high levels of food insecurity. Poor land management practices coupled with lack of effective rainwater management strategies aggravate the situation. Over the past two decades, however, the Government of Ethiopia has attempted to address many of these issues through a large-scale implementation of a number of soil and water conservation measures. Despite the success of interventions, uptake and adoption remains low. The conceptual framework of this study is based on the premise that farmers are more likely to adopt a combination of rainwater management technologies as adaptation mechanism against climate variability and agricultural production constraints. This contrasts the previous work that typically examined a single technology without considering the interdependence between technologies. Data used in this study come from household survey in seven watersheds in the Ethiopian Blue Nile Basin. A multivariate probit model was used to account for the potential correlation and interdependence of various components of rainwater management technologies. Our results suggest that rainwater management technologies are related with each other; hence, any effort to promote the adoption of rainwater management technologies has to consider such interdependence of technologies, or failure to do so may mask the reality that farmers face a set of choices in their adoption decisions.     

Perspectives for sustainable management of cedar forests in Lebanon: situation analysis and guidelines

The signature and ratification of the convention on biological diversity by the Lebanese government has boosted the declaration of nature reserves. Cedar forests formed the pilot ecosystems, using international funds, for the implementation of a conservation programme and development of management plans. Although different in their attributes, all recent nature reserves have the same basic management objectives and goals but they ignore the idea of taking into account the difference in specific site features and assets that could boost the success of any management plans. Twelve cedar forests flourish in the Mount Lebanon chain. These forests are either protected by the forestry law or are declared as nature reserves by the Ministry of Environment. The results reveal, through Participatory Rural Appraisals and Rapid Rural Appraisals, that religion, geographical location and land ownership play, to a certain extent, a role in adopting successful management practices of cedar forests. The RRAs and PRAs spell out the origins of woodcraft, old stories memorized by elderly people and ethnobotanical knowledge. The 4Rs tools method adopted highlighted the need for more collaboration and synergy of effort between various institutions. The social, ecological and economic aspects of the regions play a major role in defining the backbone of management plans for cedar forests in Lebanon. The present paper proposes guidelines for the establishment of a network of cedar nature reserves in Lebanon adopting collaborative management and assigning a separate role for each reserve; the details rely on the site’s natural features, as well as socio-economic and cultural characteristics. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue     

Potential synergies of the main current forestry efforts and climate change mitigation in Central Africa

In Central Africa, important carbon stocks are stored in natural forest stands, while activities that modify the carbon storage occur in the forest landscape. Besides clean development mechanisms, the reduction of emission through deforestation and degradation (REDD) initiative is viewed as one way to mitigate climate change. Important forest habitat protection activities have already been implemented with the aim of conserving the biodiversity of the region in a sustainable manner. The main causes of land use changes in the region are small holder subsistence practices and logging activities. Agricultural production has low productivity levels and therefore investments in improved agricultural techniques can both reduce pressure on existing forests and perhaps allow for the reforestation of existing degraded lands. The logging industry is dominated by large, industrial scale, logging operations performing selective logging of specific species and large trees. The adoption of improved forest management practices can reduce the impact of such logging on the ecological integrity and carbon stocks. Some efforts to engage in the carbon market have begun in the region. Further research is needed into the types of projects that will most likely become successful in the region and what locations will offer the greatest benefits.     

More Productivity with Fewer External Inputs: Central American Case Studies of Agroecological Development and their Broader Implications

A study of the impact of two agroecological development programs in central America was conducted in 1994, five years and fifteen years after the programmes had ended. Yields of maize and beans being achieved by those farmers involved in each program were, on the average, more than seven times the yields being achieved at the time of program initiation. Increases in yields and incomes were achieved through the use of a large number of innovations, involving especially soil retention measures, purchased organic matter, intercropped green manure/cover crops, natural pest control, crop diversification and crop rotations. Use of chemical fertilizer was reduced, herbicides avoided almost entirely, and several substitutes for pesticides are now used. These technologies, plus more recent innovations such as microscale water harvesting and precision planting, should enable small farmers around the world to increase productivity enough that the world can avoid major hunger over the next 30 years, without increasing substantially, if at all, the world's use of chemical inputs.     

Strategic thinking on sustainability: challenges and sectoral roles

This paper focuses on identified challenges for sustainable development across various sectors and the actions needed by different institutions and individuals for the achievement of a sustainable path. For finding solutions that impede sustainable development, emphasis is given to collaborative, inter- and trans-disciplinary problem-solving approaches. The ‘ecological modernization’ view is based on the belief that science and technology will result in continuous improvement in human welfare, while the emerging postmodern ‘ecological paradigm’ also emphasizes harmony with nature and other actors. Global societies are in the midst of a number of challenges: (1) implementation of existing and new hard- and soft-law instruments, (2) the degradation of natural resources, (3) an inadequate global mechanism for handling environmental and social responsibilities by the international community, (4) an unbalanced distribution of wealth, locally and internationally, (5) unethical and unsustainable business practices, (6) consequent unethical and unsustainable consumer practices, (7) selective application of ethical principles by rich countries and (8) the absence of norms of good conduct by powerful and wealthy peoples pertaining to sustainable development. Governments, civil societies, academicians, indigenous peoples, communities, businesses and international organizations need to become engaged in the formulation and enforcement of environmentally and ecologically sound development policies along with relevant research, education, training, awareness and a change in social values as provided in the Earth Charter to support actions for sustainable development.     

Synergistic vulnerabilities: climate variability and fire management policy increase farming challenges in southeastern Mexico

Agricultural fire for land preparation is central in the livelihoods of subsistence farmers practicing shifting cultivation. Achieving a good agricultural burn, one in which the biomass is thoroughly consumed within the chosen area, depends on specific weather conditions. Fire use decisions are also shaped by institutions that define the timing and rules for fire use but also constrain the alternatives and shape adaptive capacities. Global and regional climate changes interact with the institutional framing of fire management affecting local fire use and burn outcomes. These effects are documented and analyzed to suggest adaptations to existing governance systems. We examined subsistence farmers’ socio-ecological vulnerability in the Calakmul municipality, located in southeastern Mexico. Using interviews with farmers and government agents, as well as participatory mapping and observation of agricultural burns, we studied fire management knowledge, practices and burn outcomes. Our results describe a continuum of burn outcomes covering good agricultural burns, uncontrolled burns leading to wildfires and “malquemados” literally poorly burned areas. Malquemados represent unsuccessful combustion associated with excess moisture that results in scorched vegetation. We discuss how unexpected early rains trigger effects that cascade through space and the ecological, economic and cultural domains. We argue that fire management has been historically approached from a conservation standpoint yet agricultural fire use and wildfire prevention should also be addressed from a rural development perspective. This shift in fire management would lead to the proper inclusion of the entire array of burn outcomes in studies and policies addressing farmers’ vulnerability amplified by synergistic effects between climate variability and institutional change.     

Determinants for cassava production expansion in the semi-arid zone of West Africa

The study focuses on evaluating factors that farmers consider relevant in adopting cassava production in five semi-arid zone of West African countries. The study is based on primary data randomly collected as part of collaborative study of cassava in semiarid zones of Africa (COSCASSA) village level survey from five West African countries namely: Nigeria, Ghana, Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso. This study models effects of farm, farmer and technology specific factors on the decision of semi arid farmers to adopt cassava into their farming system. By way of threshold decision models—Probit and Logit models, the estimation of each country and the pooled data adoption models reveal different adoption models for the countries considered. For each country, different variables appeared as major adoption shifters. Comparatively, the adoption models for Nigeria and whole region appear to have the highest significance variables, being seven in number. This is followed by Chad (6), Ghana (4), and Burkina Faso and Niger with three each. For the variables considered, distance to nearby urban market appears a major adoption shifter in all the country, except for Niger. This is closely followed by contact with extension, variety, pest/disease resistance and livestock feeds, which appear significant in four of the countries. Membership of cooperative societies appears as the least adoption predictor, which is only significant in Chad republic. The study therefore recognizes the importance of varietial characteristics and farmers’ characteristics in acceptance of cassava as a major root tuber crop in the semi arid region of West Africa. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) in Xinhui, Guangdong Province, China

Using institutional appraisal focused groups (FG) and participatory appraisals with Dillman Total Design Method (TDM), this study examines community interaction with and utilization of wetland resources in Xinhui, Guangdong Province, China. Field results show high commercial activities and corresponding impacts on coastal environment. Other interacting factors identified include: legislation and ecosystem management, stakeholders’ participation, international guidelines criteria, and utilization of mangrove resources in the region. Sensitivity index and community-based natural resources management collaboration comparison percentile showed significant differences between cumulative distributions of respondents (D = 0.2568, P = 0.078). Likert statement of 11 sensitivity optional indexes in EMS of K–S test at 0.05 level of P = 0.078 also show significant differences in interaction between respondent groups and sensitivity factors. This indicates a dysfunction between regional environmental management systems and CBNRM in Xinhui coastal district. Considering the high tourism potential and economic quest of the region, there is the need for coordinated community enlightenment and further studies on the social, ecological and economic value of wetland resources. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Beyond fishermen’s tales: contributions of fishers’ local ecological knowledge to fish ecology and fisheries management

Studies investigating the local ecological knowledge (LEK) held by fishermen about the fishing resources have indicated that fishermen’s LEK may have the potential to improve fishery management, by providing new information about the ecology, behavior and abundance trends of fish and other aquatic animals. Our major aim is to undertake a brief review of published ethnoichthyological studies with a focus on coastal Brazilian fisheries and freshwater fisheries in both Brazil and Southeast Asia. Based on such review, we provide 29 hypotheses on fish ecology based on fishermen’s LEK and compare them with what is already known from the biological literature, using an arbitrary ‘likelihood’ measure: “Low likelihood” corresponded to unexpected hypotheses, which contradict existing biological data. “Medium likelihood” corresponded to hypotheses that could not be compared to available scientific knowledge. Hypotheses that agree with scientific data were considered as “High likelihood”. We therefore discuss these three categories of hypotheses about several distinct topics, such as migration, reproduction, feeding habits, abundance patterns, ecological relationships between fish and their predators, and fishing pressure. Our results may contribute to the fisheries management and research in the studied regions and other similar places, besides raising the interest of biologists to properly include fishermen’s LEK when planning and conducting fisheries surveys. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Applying Agroecology to Enhance the Productivity of Peasant Farming Systems in Latin America

The great majority of farmers in Latin America are peasants who still farm small plots of land, usually in marginal environments utilizing traditional and subsistence methods. The contribution of the 16 million peasant units to regional food security is, however, substantial. Research has shown that peasant systems, which mostly rely on local resources and complex cropping patterns, are reasonably productive despite their land endowments and low use of external inputs. Moreover analysis of NGO-led agroecological initiatives show that traditional crop and animal systems can be adapted to increase productivity by biologically re-structuring peasant farms which in turn leads to optimization of key agroecosystem processes (nutrient cycling, organic matter accumulation, biological pest regulation, etc.) and efficient use of labor and local resources. Examples of such grassroots projects are herein described to show that agroecological approaches can offer opportunities to substantially increase food production while preserving the natural resource base and empowering rural communities.     

Shifting maize cultivation and secondary vegetation in the Southern Yucatán: successional forest impacts of temporal intensification

Shifting cultivation around the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve of Mexico, part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, appears to be intensifying temporally through reductions in crop–fallow cycles, with potential impacts on species diversity in the regenerating forest patches surrounding the reserve. This paper documents the temporal intensity of shifting maize cultivation in the region and links it to the species diversity found in secondary vegetation of different ages following different crop–fallow cycles. It finds that younger secondary growth, which is increasing under intensification, has less diversity in species composition. Simultaneously, the concentration of cultivation practices appears to foster more patches in older and more species-diverse vegetation. The implications for the preservation of the region’s forest remain uncertain, however, given the spatial concentration of open lands along two key axes, one which dissects the reserve.     

Managing biological invasions: charting courses to desirable futures in the Cape Floristic Region

Invasive species alter the functioning of natural ecosystems, creating “novel ecosystems” comprising species occurring in combinations with no analogs within a given biome. This poses major challenges for managers who cannot rely exclusively on previous experiences. Multiple factors that drive invasion and which interact in complex ways demand innovative management approaches. We show the utility of scenario planning in considering options for management in a region with substantial problems with invasive alien plants: South Africa’s Cape Floristic Region. The approach allows us to identify the driving forces that shape the status and trajectories of major woody invasive plants and to identify sensible strategies by considering a set of scenarios based on the main uncertainties that encapsulate the linkages between the various components of the management of biological invasions. Attitudes of landowners and management capacity are shown to be the crucial uncertainties influencing the spread of major invasive species; axes based on these factors define our scenarios. Mapping current management projects onto scenario axes highlighted key differences among areas. These insights can assist in directing particular management units toward more desirable futures. Our study highlights the need to link social, political and legal constraints with ecological processes to assure the effectiveness of management operations in controlling biological invasions.     

Rural settlement expansion and paddy soil loss across an ex-urbanizing watershed in eastern coastal China during market transition

Historically, paddy soils are the most valuable natural resources that produce about 90% of staple food in eastern coastal China. Dispersed patterns of rapid rural settlement expansion, or “exurban”, are recognized as key threats to the region’s food security through paddy soil loss. Analyzing the process of ex-urbanization and its impact has profound implications for the sustainable development of rural China. Based on official statistics and data derived from satellite images, dynamics of rural settlement expansion and paddy soil loss were outlined for Tiaoxi watershed during China’s market transition period (1994–2003). Particularly, rural settlements became more aggregated and total area expanded by 183% at an average rate of 12.3% per year for the whole watershed. Existing cores, open areas away from urban centers and areas near major transportation lines and river channels, observed the highest specialization in rural residential growth. Being closely associated with rural settlement in spatial distribution, open large paddy soil patches acted as another kind of center for rural settlement expansion within the landscape. Variations in rural settlement expansion were detected among different-tier counties, such as speed of rural settlement expansion, speed of build-ups growth per capita. These variations were closely related to social-economic development. The rapid rural settlement expansion led to a considerable loss of paddy soil, about 11% of the total amount for the whole watershed. Linear regression identified a significant relationship between paddy soil loss and rural settlement expansion. Given the social and ecological problems associated with paddy soil loss, we argue that innovative and effective planning policies as well as management programs that target at paddy soil protection should be developed and implemented in rural China. In particular, we suggest using watershed as an appropriate spatial unit for sustainable paddy soil management in this investigation.     

Resilience thinking applied to fisheries management: perspectives for the mullet fishery in Southern-Southeastern Brazil

The mullet fishery system encompasses a complex arrange of ecological and socioeconomic factors interacting in multiple scales on the Southern-Southeastern Brazilian coast. Similarly, to other fisheries in developing countries, overfishing and poor governance have been threatening the resilience of the mullet fishery. In this paper, we explore aspects related to fisheries management from the perspective of the concept of resilience. The industrial and artisanal fishery sectors represent the different stakeholders. The main issues of concern are related to failures in the fisheries management to properly address equity in resource access and resource use sustainability among stakeholders. Asymmetry in technology and political and economic power affect food security and income generation especially for subsistence and small-scale fishing. Despite changes in rules-in-use, overfishing and conflicts between resource users are still relevant. Fishery dynamics and resource availability are greatly affected locally by forces such as pollution, urbanization, non-selective fishing, and regionally, by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and industrial (purse-seine) fishery. Considering the influence of ENSO on this fishery, a time span of at least 7 years to investigate this system could provide better answers to improve the management. Effective resilient fisheries should rely on three aspects. First, there should be a flexible fish allocation system based on ecosystem variability. Secondly, fish allocation should prioritize food security and poverty alleviation. Thirdly, a monitoring system should be implemented that takes into consideration ecosystem, fisheries and human dimensions to support a flexible and adaptive fisheries management, with resilient fisheries as an ultimate goal.