Participatory assessment of soil degradation in the uplands of southwestern Tanzania: Implications for sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods

Rural household food insecurity and poverty are closely linked to soil degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, causes, degradation processes, coping strategies and need for interventions may vary from one place to another. This study was conducted in Mbinga District, SW Tanzania, to investigate causes and biophysical processes of soil degradation; effects on livelihoods, coping strategies and entry points for interventions. Implications for sustainable production and rural livelihoods are discussed. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), household surveys using a short open-ended questionnaire and biophysical exploration were the research tools used. Soil fertility depletion resulting from continuous cropping and erosion losses is the main form of soil degradation. Maize yield was 57% lower in fertility-depleted farms than in productive farms. Soil pH, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and CEC accounted for 79% of variations in maize yield. Organic soil fertility amelioration was a common strategy used by smallholders. Use of beneficial tree and shrub fallows is the most environmentally, economically and socially promising improvement that can be used to build on the existing strengths of farmers' knowledge and strategies. Subsidy for the right type of fertilizers, infrastructure improvement and education of farmers on proper use of fertilizers should significantly contribute to improved and sustainable production and livelihoods.     

Environmental quality and its impact on the local economy: A case study from Dongguan,South China

Industries that pollute the environment developed in the early 1990s in Dongguan City, especially those in the middle and lower valley of the Dongjiang River (waterside area) have seriously affected water and air quality and hence have affected soil quality through polluted water irrigation and precipitation. Investigation of the economic growth and environmental pollution in the 32 township units in the City from 1990 to 2000 also reveals that environmental pollution has affected the history of the development of the towns or townships in the waterside region in the delta of the River Dongjiang, especially the towns near the river mouth, and has prevented their industry from upgrading and hence has slowed down their economic growth. The impact of environmental pollution on economic growth is most severe in the towns along the lower valley, or in down-wind regions. In contrast, economic development in the protected area of the upper valley of the waterside region indicates that environmental protection that strictly controls the discharge of pollutants does not restrict the development of the local economy.     

Characteristics of geological hazards in South China coastal areas and impact on regional sustainable development

Prevention and treatment of geological hazards is important for the sustainable development of human society. Surface geological hazards alone caused direct economic losses of ¥3.47 billion, with 768 deaths and 785 injuries in Guangdong Province, South China, from 1994 to 2005. The major factors causing geological hazards can be categorised into three types: geo-environmental, climatic-meteorological and human activity. Accompanied by rapid economic development and population growth, human activities can cause geological hazards that are as serious as those caused by natural factors. The authors propose some suggestions for prevention and treatment of geological hazards to achieve sustainable development on the Chinese coast.     

环境问题与"可持续发展"道路存在的误区

环境问题本质是人的问题,具体表现于人口问题和人的德行问题。文章认为导致我们系列环境政策没有起到预想结果的原因在于我们"德行"中存在的认识误区,分析了这些认识误区;提出解决环境问题的根本途径是改造我们的"德行"并知道我们生活在地球"极限之内"。     

Pollution prevention for sustainable development: the land-use question

The central argument of the paper is that effective pollution prevention can be achieved only by integrated land-use planning which offers the broad framework for co-ordinating technological and non-technological means to achieve sustainable development. The paper first reviews the role of land-use in preventing or contributing to pollution over time, focusing especially on contemporary efforts to promote environmental protection through land-use planning and management. The relationship between land-use, pollution and sustainable development is analysed by examining the most important types of land-use-related problems, discussing their causes and identifying a number of land-use-related constraints to sustainable development. Finally, a land-use planning and policy framework approach to pollution prevention for sustainable development is outlined which emphasizes the need for integrated analysis of pollution problems and adoption of comprehensive approaches to their solution. Scientific, spatial, temporal and policy issues are addressed in the context of the proposed approach.     

PICABUE: a methodological framework for the development of indicators of sustainable development

SUMMARY

Significant interest in the concept of sustainable development exists amongst scientists, planners, policy makers and the public, and considerable effort and expenditure is made or envisaged at local, national and international levels to promote a more sustainable society. Until ‘green accounting’ and similar systems are made available and are implemented, the sustainability indicator will be the most effective tool available for monitoring progress towards a more sustainable society. Sustainability indicators are already available but are characterized by a poor or absent theoretical underpinning. This paper addresses this problem by proposing a methodological framework that can be applied to the construction of indicators of sustainable development. In order to be consistent with widely accepted definitions of sustainable development, considerations relating to the measurement of quality of life and ecological integrity are central to the methodology. The methodological framework has relevance to a variety of spatial scales and to geographically diverse areas (urban or rural, developed or developing countries) so that a suite of sustainability indicators can be produced that is tailored to the needs and resources of the indicator user, but which remains rooted firmly in the fundamental principles of sustainable development.     

Rubber cultivation and sustainable development in Xishuangbanna,China

SUMMARY

Xishuangbanna in southwest China is a tropical and subtropical region with extraordinary traditional cultures and attractive landscapes. Rubber cultivation is a key production source undergoing rapid growth. It contributes substantially to improvement of the local economic situation and partially replaces traditional slash-and-burn agriculture in the uplands, but it also results in biodiversity loss and environmental degradation and disturbs the peaceful life of the indigenous people. We discuss the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) preserved in daily practices and the present types of rubber plantations and suggest the application of TEK, in particular, the indigenous land-use experience to rubber cultivation, in order to promote sustainability in local economic development and ecological well-being.     

教育、宣传和培训--可持续发展能力建设的重要组成部分

本文从可持续发展能力建设的角度分析了教育、宣传和培训的内涵并讨论了它们在可持续发展能力建设中的作用.同时,全面介绍了中国在推动可持续发展教育、宣传和培训方面所开展的工作和一系列的活动.论述了教育、宣传和培训作为促进公众可持续发展思想意识提高、鼓励公众积极参与可持续发展的途径和手段,在人类社会变革和观念与意识更新中的重要作用.     

Managing organizations for sustainable development in emerging countries: an introduction

This introduction article is for the special issue ‘Managing organizations for sustainable development in emerging countries: natural resources, biodiversity, and climate change’ in the International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology and presents an introduction to the topics and summarizes accepted contributions in the special issue. The accepted works may contribute with organizational management in the search for more sustainable organizations. The works focus on the challenges of managing organizations in a context of degradation of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. Accepted papers discuss these issues, based on the reality of emerging economies (e.g. Brazil, India, and China).     

Institutional deficiencies and capacity building constraints: the dilemma for environmentally sustainable development in Africa

SUMMARY

The authors question Africa's ability to achieve sustainable development in view of the erosion of its institution building capacity, a problem compounded by the alarming rate of Africa's continuing marginalisation in the world economy. The situation has been provoked by inappropriate domestic policies which have not only compromised Africa's competitiveness, but also made it particularly vulnerable given the increasing globalisation of markets and factors of production. The benefits associated with effective global economic participation transcend direct financial gains and include technology transfers, technical and managerial skills transfers, and other skills transfers associated with the ‘learning and doing’ process. These benefits are instrumental in the development of the economic, administrative, legislative and social institutions that prescribe the organisational and managerial structure of an economy and define its capacity for sustainable growth. In Africa, the absence of such structures has undermined development efforts and created large impoverished populations. But poverty in living standards is not only prevalent, there is also the acute poverty in knowledge and skills which is so damaging to institution building capacity. The socio-economic impact is manifest in dilapidated infrastructure, decaying institutions, the exodus of the professional and managerial cadre, and the almost total disintegration of society. It is within this context that Africa's ability to evolve and effectively manage sustainable development policies is questioned. The study concludes that the continent's capacity to initiate sound environmental and sustainable development policies depends crucially on its ability to develop appropriate and functional institutions.     

Potentialities,problems, policies and progress in modelling sustainable development: A dynamic,hierarchical approach

This paper discusses some of the potentials, problems, policies and progress in modelling sustainable development. After briefly describing ten approaches to modelling sustainable development, some of the methodological problems still to be resolved are addressed. It is then suggested that policies to promote sustainable development should operate at six different spatial levels connecting global, multinational, national, regional, local and individual. Attempting to model sustainable development in such a hierarchical manner is exceedingly difficult. One way of modelling sustainable development is to develop the concept of a sustainable corridor, combining ecological, economic and equity considerations in a hierarchical fashion and through space-time. A preliminary dynamic, hierarchical model is described connecting global and national patterns of development. Using global and national data for Scotland, the calibrated model, running under the business-as-usual scenario, shows that current development paths are unsustainable. It is shown that, by implementing a judicious choice of policies, a sustainable corridor for a global and a national system can be achieved. The ways in which this preliminary model can be developed to connect all six hierarchical levels are discussed.     

Participatory research and sustainable development in the Sahelo-Sudanian region

SUMMARY

A participatory research programme was conducted in the groundnut basin of Senegal, where there was a need to intensify the local farming systems. The research yielded a set of technical references and profitable innovations, which were introduced through specific development actions. The technology transfer aims at the establishment of sustainable farming systems and takes into account the climatic risks and innovation costs. Identification of research themes and implementation of results was based on various analyses: climatic analysis at regional level (establishment of climatic zones) and identification of constraints at farm level. Farmers' interests and the research results were combined to define suitable interventions for each surveyed farm, with the aim of increasing farm income and restoring soil fertility. The research also yielded elements for formulating an appropriate and realistic agricultural policy for the region. Clearly, the development of livestock farming activities is essential in bringing new economic life into the region and increasing the sustainability of farming systems in erratic climatic conditions.     

Water shortages and countermeasures for sustainable utilisation in the context of climate change in the Yellow River Delta region,China

With an increasing population and rapid development of the economy and society of the Yellow River Basin region, the Yellow River is at crisis point. The discrepancy between supply and demand of water resources is a key issue. In 2000–2006, the mean annual discharge of the Yellow River entering the delta was 13.2 billion m³, a reduction of 18.6 billion m³ compared with the 1980s, and 9 billion m³ less than in the 1990s. The water requirements of various sectors are increasing. Large amounts of water essential to maintain the health of the delta ecosystem have been diverted for other users. The lower river channel is shrinking and the threat of flooding is becoming severe. Moreover, water pollution is increasing to a serious level; the river mouth ecosystem is subject to degradation. Due to overall decreased flow into the delta, and almost no flow into the delta for much of the year except in wet periods, biodiversity is threatened and there has been degradation of the ecological environment. In view of the water scarcity and variation in water supply, particularly in the context of climate change, measures need to be taken to realise sustainable water use in the Yellow River Delta region. In view of the lack of a complete index system for sustainable utilisation of regional water resources in China, this paper examines the major countermeasures for sustainable water use in the region. A rational adjustment mechanism for water prices is needed. Adjustment of agricultural infrastructure and water saving need to be directed by water prices, and thus the reasonable exploitation of groundwater must also be directed by water prices. Participation of the public is to be encouraged, with the development of a water user association that will become involved in formulating water rights, water allocation and water prices. Decision-making, management and supervision of this association will be done in a democratic way to promote the social management of water saving.     

Moving towards sustainable development: rhetoric,policy and reality of ecological agriculture in China

Past decades have witnessed the rise of sustainable agriculture movements throughout the world. In parallel with this international trend, ecological agriculture (with essential goals of food security, rural employment, poverty alleviation, natural resource management and environmental protection) has been advocated as a workable approach for the realization of sustainable agriculture in China. Two decades of ecological agricultural development have shown that it not only gained legitimacy at the senior policy level but also became a focus of scientific research in fields such as ecological economics, ecology, and agricultural and environmental sciences. However, this endeavour is hardly known in the West and little attention has been paid so far to examining the broader politico-economic and sociocultural contexts within which it has evolved. This paper attempts to provide a general review of the emerging background, development history, policy initiatives and recent tendencies of ecological agriculture. In addition, the extant problems and potential contributions of this alternative practice to China's sustainable agricultural development are discussed. The purpose of this study is to identify the gap between the policy rhetoric and practical implementation of Chinese ecological agriculture and therefore to facilitate its moving towards sustainable development.     

Willingness to pay to improve domestic water supply in rural areas of Central Tanzania: Implications for policy

This analysis estimates willingness to pay to improve community-based rural water utilities in the Dodoma and Singida Regions of Central Tanzania, using Multinomial Logit functions. An estimate of willingness to pay provides an indication of the demand for improved services and potential for them being sustainable. Surveys were conducted in a total of 30 villages in the two regions. In the Dodoma Region, about 14% of respondents indicated that they were satisfied with the status quo, 64% suggested increasing water discharge and watering points, and 22% proposed other improvements relating to water quality. In the Singida Region, 31% of the respondents were satisfied with the status quo, 59% wanted deeper boreholes and watering points, and 10% indicated other types of improvement relating to water quality. The Multinomial Logit functions indicated that the interaction between the water quality variable and proposed bids were important in making choices with reference to the type of improvement desired. Respondents who wanted to increase water supply in Dodoma Region were willing to pay 32 Tsh above the existing tariff of 20 Tsh/bucket. In the Singida Region, the analogous amount was 91 Tsh per household per year above the existing user fee of 508 Tsh per household per year. If the tariff or user fees have to be increased, the estimated average potential revenue for the surveyed villages was 252 million Tsh/year (US$265 263) in the Dodoma Region, and 5.2 million Tsh/year (US$5474) in the Singida Region. In the future, strategic planning is needed to ensure that improvements proposed potentially improve cost recovery initiatives and increase the level of consumer satisfaction. Also, care will be needed to ensure that more disadvantaged community members do not suffer unduly from increases in tariff or user fees.     

Decentralization and people's participation in conservation: a comparative study from the Western Terai of Nepal

Nepal formally embarked on decentralized participatory conservation programmes in 1990. To assess who participates in and benefits from such programmes, stratified random questionnaire surveys of 234 households and interviews with 29 user group chairs were conducted in the buffer zones of two protected areas of the Nepalese Terai: Bardia National Park and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve. The Poisson regression shows that gender, education, household affluence, and conservation attitudes were significant predictors of people's participation in decentralized conservation programmes, while family size, ethnicity and resource dependency were not. The benefits of participation outweighed the costs based on respondents' estimates. The performance of grassroots organizations and levels of participation were correlated. Nepal's decentralized participatory conservation has achieved efficiency, relative equity and effectiveness to some extent. Yet the central government should devolve more power to local communities to sustain the achievements as well as to provide more equitable benefits to residents to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of conservation programmes.     

A regional-scale sustainable development index: the case of Baja California Sur,Mexico

Sustainable development, as a multi-dimensional concept, is difficult to measure. Some efforts using indicators and indices have appeared in recent years, but most were developed on a national scale. Use of sustainability indicators has proven valuable for attaining better management of the environment by minimizing information gaps and maximizing community capabilities in terms of economic, social, environmental, and institutional sustainability dimensions. However, at least in the case of developing countries, the potential exists that national sustainability measures, based on national level indicators, may mask problems in sub-national zones with highly unsustainable conditions. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate sustainable development at a local level, the use of which could be helpful in comparing different regions within a country or even among different countries. National sustainability indicators should result from a combination (whether additive or proportional) of regional sustainability indicators, as developed in this paper.     

Measuring and assessing indicators of sustainable development for Scotland: a pilot survey

In this paper, we review three broad classes of indicators of sustainable development. These are economic, ecological and sociopolitical indicators. We then report the results of a pilot study which measured five different indicators for Scotland: an approximate environmentally-adjusted Net National Product; the Pearce-Atkinson Measure; Net Primary Production; Appropriated Carrying Capacity; and the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare. We find that not all indicators point in the same direction, but a majority suggest that Scotland is at best only marginally sustainable. Data limitations, however, suggest a degree of caution in the interpretation of these results.     

Population dynamics,rural livelihoods and forest protection projects in Sub-Saharan Africa: experiences from Santa,Cameroon

The study examines mainstream efforts to rehabilitate and conserve forests in Cameroon, and concludes that technocratic blueprints will always flounder when they come face-to-face with the real world of complex human relations in poverty-stricken societies. These result from the failure to integrate concerns relating to rights, needs and priorities of rural communities, who are the local natural resource users. The paper argues that when rural livelihoods are affected negatively, the adjacent forest communities often respond in ways involving conflict, illegal exploitation of resources and apathy, which makes the realisation of conservation goals very remote. There is, therefore, need for a broader perspective that links environmental protection with human welfare. Consequently, the study advocates that Social Impact Assessment (SIA) be an integral part of such conservation projects if success is to be achieved.