Linking perceived land and water resources degradation,scarcity and livelihood conflicts in southwestern Tanzania: implications for sustainable rural livelihood

In Africa, the land and water resources quality are key factors for sustainable development. The degradation of the quality of these resources leads to scarcities and conflicts, which together threaten the sustainability of rural livelihoods. This work investigated and analysed the livelihoods conflicts over the land and water resources and their scarcities, policies that contributed to the land and water scarcities and the livelihood conflicts and linkage of the conflicts to the resources scarcities and degradation. Implications of degradation of the resources, development policies and livelihoods conflicts on sustainable development are discussed. Literature study, visits and discussions, participatory assessments, observations and questionnaire survey were used tools to collect data. Interviews of the 266 households revealed that, those experiencing the land and water scarcities and conflicts over these resources are significantly (p < 0.001) higher than those not experiencing the scarcities and conflicts. Crop-livestock competition, over the land and water resources causes prominent conflicts. A significant, (p < 0.05) associations of livelihoods conflicts to water shortage and period of water shortage for crop and livestock production were found. Improved accessibility to soil and water management technologies, wildlife–livestock co-existence, recognition of needs and land rights for pastoralists are recommended to minimize scarcities and herders versus farmers’ conflicts.     

Correction to: Influence of community-based natural resource management strategies in the resilience of social-ecological systems

Regional Environmental Change - The published online version contains mistake. Author name was incorrectly captured. Instead of Maria del Mar Delgado-Serrano was incorrectly captured as Ma del Mar...     

Livelihood vulnerability to climate change: a case of farm households in Northeast Vietnam

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study investigates the livelihood vulnerability to climate change of farm households in Northeast Vietnam. Data for the study is based on a survey...     

Farmers' perception on combined climatic and market risks and their adaptive behaviors: a case in Shandong Province of China

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This paper used original survey data in Shandong province of China to depict local farmers’ perceptions of combined climatic and market risks,...     

A review of the water resources management for the Brantas River basin: challenges in the transition to an integrated water resources management

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This paper reviews an integrated approach involving the representative stakeholders in the development and management of water available in the Brantas...     

Shifting from apple to peach farming in Kazuno, northern Japan: perceptions of and responses to climatic and non-climatic impacts

Apple farmers in Kazuno, northern Japan, have started to grow peaches in the northernmost climatic region suitable for peach farming. Here, we investigate the process from the initial introduction of peach cultivation to its diffusion focusing on the farmers’ perceptions of climatic and non-climatic stimuli and their actions to respond to these stressors. Interviews with the farmers identified three distinct groups. Four farmers (Group 1) initiated the transition to peach production, which then spread to other farmers (Group 2) via personal connections. Later, after the provision of various means of support from the local government and the producers’ cooperative, many more apple farmers (Group 3) decided to begin peach production. Most farmers recognized the risk of damages to apple production as a result of typhoons and drought. However, only Group 1 farmers, who depend on direct sales to customers, mentioned these climate-related damages as a reason to shift toward peach cultivation in order to maintain their customers. The peach fruit was specifically chosen as a replacement for apple because it is less vulnerable to these climatic stressors. For Group 3 farmers, the financial losses associated with these climate-related events could be compensated for by insurance. Their decision to grow peach is largely due to its higher price and immunity against a specific disease which affects apples but they only shifted once institutional support was available, thereby reducing the risk in cultivating a new species. Our findings suggest that the role of institutions was not to drive the process of the adaptation itself but rather to provide relevant support to farmers to enable them to shift to new crop varieties more easily. We argue that such process-based understanding is crucial in formulating strategies to increase adaptive capacity in agriculture.     

To produce or not to produce: an analysis of bioenergy and crop production decisions based on farmer typologies in Brandenburg,Germany

Regional Environmental Change - The future course of the political regulation of bioenergy will have a significant sustainability impact on many levels. Understanding the specific effects of...     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Adaptation strategies of farmers to drought in a changing climate in Dingcheng County,Hunan, southern China

Regional Environmental Change -     

Water demand of central pivot-irrigated areas in Bahia,Brazil: management of water resources applied to sustainable production

When performed without technical criteria, the rapid expansion of irrigated agricultural frontiers can result in overexploitation of water, causing worrying impacts on the balance of agroecosystems. This study proposes a model applied to the state of Bahia, to estimate the water demand of areas irrigated by a central pivot, in order to contribute to information that will subsidize the inspection and planning of water resources in the promotion of sustainable agriculture. The irrigated areas were identified and measured by photointerpretation using orbital images from the Landsat-8 satellite. With a historical series of data, the reference evapotranspiration was calculated and monthly water balance was elaborated. The data obtained were spatialized by kriging, and with punctual values of water deficit (mm), the water demand of the irrigated perimeter of the equipment was estimated. The results were described considering strategic planning units, proposed from municipalities, hydrographic basins and biomes. A total of 4075 pivots were quantified, covering an irrigated area of 265,896.30 ha and with an average annual consumption of 1,333,473,208.02 m³ of water. Areas of high demand were identified, especially in the western region of Bahia, which includes the hydrographic basin of the São Francisco River and the Cerrado biome, concentrating 80.85% and 75.47% of the state water demand for pivots, respectively. Considering possible points of water vulnerability and continuity of this expansion, the results provide the primary information needed to encourage the adoption of public policies aimed at the management of water resources. The study method proposes guidelines that condition the application in any region of interest in the world.

Graphical abstract

     

Sensitivity of Portuguese forest fires to climatic, human, and landscape variables: subnational differences between fire drivers in extreme fire years and decadal averages

Within the changing fire regimes of Portugal, the relative importance of humans and climatic variability for regional fire statistics remains poorly understood. This work investigates the statistical relationship between temporal dynamics of fire events in Portugal and a set of socioeconomic, landscape, and climatic variables for the time periods of 1980–1990, 1991–2000, and extreme fires years. For 10 of 15 districts, it was possible to observe moderate shifts in the significance of fire drivers for the first two decadal periods. For others, pronounced changes of the significance of fire drivers were found across time. Results point toward a dynamic (perhaps highly non-linear) behavior of socioeconomic and landscape fire drivers, especially during the occurrence of extreme fire years of 2003 and 2005. At country level, population density alone explained 42% of the inter-annual and inter-district deviance in number of fires. At the same temporal and spatial scale, the explanatory power of temperature anomalies proved to explain 43% of area burnt. We highlight the necessity of including a broad set of socioeconomic and landscape fire drivers in order to account for potential significance shifts. In addition, although climate does trigger broad favorable fire conditions across Portugal mainland, socioeconomic and landscape factors proved to determine much of the complex fire patterns at a subnational scale.     

Water management from tradition to second modernity: an analysis of the water crisis in Iran

This article reflects on the fundamentals of first and second modernity and its usefulness and practicability for problem formulation and solving in the context of water management practices in Iran. It is argued that the current water crisis in Iran resulted from modernization based on first modernity paradigms, and second modernity concepts are used to present a framework for new water management approaches. Based on the concept of sub-political arrangements, we suggest that water management issues can be treated best in process-based ways under a reflexive modernity point of view.     

建设用地空间错配理论、机制与效益损失:基于湖北省的实证

研究建设用地空间错配特征及内在机制,对纠正土地资源错配、优化土地资源配置机制具有现实意义。基于资源错配理论对土地资源错配理论开展梳理,提出建设用地错配机制假说,运用边际分析法和计量方法构建建设用地空间错配测度模型及机制检验模型,并以湖北省为例进行实证研究。结果表明:①1996—2017年湖北省建设用地过度错配与短缺错配并存,空间错配程度总体上有所改善,但局部地区错配程度加剧。②土地负外部性扩散、非均衡发展、非市场化供应、土地财政依赖等加剧了建设用地空间错配,优化产业结构、减少政府腐败、发展多元所有制等有利于降低建设用地空间错配程度。③1996—2017年湖北省建设用地空间错配效率损失由6.92%下降到3.84%,年均减少2.03%,效率损失得到缓解。④从损失值看,湖北省建设用地空间错配效率损失严重,1996—2017年累计经济损失达3.90×10^4亿元。主要结论:建设用地空间错配测度模型兼顾了土地配置的效率与公平,可以作为建设用地空间错配程度衡量的有效方法;建设用地空间错配已经成为阻碍经济增长的重要因素之一,纠正建设用地空间错配,能有效促进区域经济增长;土地市场配置和政府主导配置均会带来建设用地空间错配,建设用地配置中一个“有效的市场”与“有为的政府”结合十分必要且迫切。     

Weather variability trends in Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh,India: influence on cropping systems and adaptation strategies

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Weather variability over the long run exhibits the trends of change in climate and forewarns for development and deployment of adaptation measures....     

中国生态效率的区域差异及影响因素——基于时空差异视角的实证分析

“生态效率”这一概念同时将环境绩效和经济绩效内涵于其中,符合生态文明建设和可持续发展的科学理念。基于2004~2014年我国30个省级经济单元的面板数据,通过构建区域生态效率评价模型,运用探索性空间统计分析方法,实证测算并分析了我国区域生态效率的时空关联及集聚特征,研究了生态效率变动的驱动因素。结果表明：(1)我国生态效率区域差异显著,生态效率呈现“东—中—西—东北”的梯度递减格局。(2)区域生态效率呈现显著的正的空间相关与集聚特征,近地缘的各省域生态效率相互影响,空间扩散效应显著;忽视区域差异与空间因素,在理论上存在严重不足,也与现实不符。(3)经济发展水平、环境规制、结构变动、对外开放和城市化水平等因素,都会对生态效率变动产生显著影响。提高区域生态效率,中西部落后地区是重点,也是难点。     

The potential perils of Sal forests land grabbing in Bangladesh: an analysis of economic,social and ecological perspectives

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The increased demand for foods and commercialization of the commodity markets has resulted in enormous interest in arable land resources, leading to a...     

生态景观质量的游客感知及支付意愿评价——以福友休闲农场为例

在近年来国内休闲农业快速发展的背景下,由于缺乏对其非使用价值的正确认识和判断,出现了高速增长与效果欠佳的矛盾,如何科学评价休闲农场开发的非使用价值,对于该产业发展具有重要意义。条件价值评估方法(CVM)是国内外评估非使用价值和支付意愿较为成熟的方法,但尚未用于对具有"三产融合"和"三生一体"特性的休闲农场的评估,本研究以福建开发较为成熟的长泰福友休闲农场为研究取样点,采用该方法探究游客对休闲农场生态景观质量的感知水平及支付意愿。结果表明:游客对福友休闲农场生态保护价值支付意愿的下限为18.26元,支付上限为23.10元,游客对福友休闲农场生态景观保护的支付意愿为96.45万元/年;提供便捷的支付渠道和公开资金的使用途径能有效提升游客购买生态景观保护价值的支付意愿;农场空气的好坏、农场的生态体验设计、农场的田园功能分区在主题设计、耕作体验形式、内容等方面的创新程度对游客生态保护的支付意愿影响较大;对于大部分拥有一定农场阅历但对农业多功能性认识不足的游客,在便捷的支付手段和珍稀植物品种的吸引下,更倾向于形成较低水平的生态保护价值支付意愿,而那些文化素质较高,特别是拥有农场、生态相关领域研究背景,对于农场生态功能性、体验养生内容拥有一定认知的游客,则愿意在更高的价格水平支付农场的生态保护价值。     

交易费用三维度属性作用机理及交易方式选择意愿——佛山市南海区集体建设用地市场实证分析

基于广东省南海区的问卷调研,采用Tobit模型分析资产专用性、交易的不确定性和交易频率对农村集体建设用地交易费用的影响,采用Probit模型分析交易费用对市场交易方式选择的影响。(1)集体建设用地市场交易费用的研究结果:资产专用性中承租人不是本地人、受教育程度越高的人力资本资产专用性较高,会产生更高的交易费用;模型中需求方物质资产专用性没有影响;土地资产专用性中的地块离镇中心距离越近的资产专用性更高,因而其交易费用相对较高。交易的不确定性中交易行为的不确定性中交易对象为村集体,其交易费用更低;签订合同可以减少不确定性,降低履约风险,从而达到减少交易费用的目的;没有政府干预更倾向于采用接近市场的形式,交易费用低;交易环境的不确定性中采用竞标方式决定价格其交易费用较低,而采用协议方式其交易费用较高;办理了《房屋产权证》的交易其交易费用更低,产权明晰是市场有效运作的前提。(2)市场交易方式选择的研究结果:交易费用较高的情况下,承租方倾向于选择出让的交易方式;资产专用性中企业员工人数和产业状态均显著正向影响交易方式的选择,地块更靠近镇中心,企业更愿意选择出让的方式;交易的不确定性中交易行为的不确定性具有正向显著影响的因素包括交易对象、合同年限、合同是否公证;交易环境的不确定性中价格决定方式、是否知道南海区试点及南海区流转政策三个变量都显著正向影响交易方式的选择;交易频率显著正向影响交易费用,二次或多次转租的承租方会更愿意选择出租的方式进行交易。研究结论:交易费用的三个分析维度对交易费用的影响不尽一致,应根据其影响的差异性来制定相关政策,以达到降低市场交易费用的目的。