Assessing the Benefits of Andean Crop Diversity on Farmers' Livelihood: Insights from a Development Programme in Bolivia and Peru

Abstract

This paper analyses the impact of a development programme designed at promoting the sustainable use of Andean Grain diversity. Results demonstrate that knowledge-sharing on agronomic practices, on benefits derived from consumption, and improving Andean Grain quality had a positive impact on income generation and farmer livelihoods. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of programmes aimed at improving rural livelihoods through greater knowledge transfer and use of local agrobiodiversity, wherein private benefits may incentivise the public benefits of agrobiodiversity use and conservation. Findings warrant the need to further monitor and evaluate the potential of agrobiodiversity to improve the well-being of rural communities.

Smallholder Farmer Engagement in Citizen Science for Varietal Diversification Enhances Adaptive Capacity and Productivity in Bihar, India

“…Moreover, the DR results confirmed the research hypothesis underpinning the overall study, namely that exposed households can obtain substantial livelihood benefits in terms of increased crop productivity and improved ability to recover from shocks. In accordance with the findings of Joshi et al (1997) and Gotor et al (2017), outcomes of the current empirical analysis highlight the effectiveness of development programmes aimed at strengthening rural livelihoods through participatory approaches and use of local agrobiodiversity.…”

“…This precluded the ex-ante definition of project outcomes and thus the execution of a sounding baseline data collection or randomized selection of households or communities. The fact that the S4N initiative did not have a priori control group restrict the options to create a proper counterfactual (Gotor et al, 2017). Furthermore, participation in the initiative was open to all community members and was voluntary.…”

Adaptive strategies enhance smallholders’ livelihood resilience in Bihar, India

“…It is evident that livelihood outcomes can vary from one household to the next because they so heavily depend on multiple, multidirectional influences. Some studies consider conventional indicators such as crop yield, income, food consumption and sustainable use of natural resources as livelihood outcomes (Gotor et al 2017;Bellon et al 2015;Gotor et al 2013). In other cases, a strengthened capital base, less vulnerability and improvements in other aspects of well-being such as health, selfesteem and even the maintenance of cultural assets are considered potential outcomes (Adato and Meinzen-Dick 2002).…”

Wheat Varietal Diversification Increases Ethiopian Smallholders’ Food Security: Evidence from a Participatory Development Initiative

“…[9][10][11][12], conducted in marginal production areas highlight the importance of increasing diversity in farming systems to moderate the negative impacts of climate change and climate variability. Diversifying farming systems and increasing linked agrobiodiversity may positively affect smallholders' livelihoods in various ways [13,14]. This includes crop diversification, which can reduce the production uncertainty tied to climate variability and unpredictable weather conditions [5,11,[15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…The increased availability of a range of genetically diverse crop varieties allows farmers to select suitable cultivars that respond to new microclimate conditions [20] and improve farmers' capabilities to effectively control pests and diseases [21][22][23][24][25]. All of these have direct implications for crop productivity and smallholders' food security and livelihoods [14,19,[26][27][28]. The impact of diversification on agricultural income is, however, context-specific and mixed [19,29].…”