Can Agroecology Provide a Panacea for Sustaining the Adoption of Soil Erosion Control Measures? A Case of Smallholder Coffea arabica Production in the Rwenzori Mountain Region, Uganda

Abstract

Agroecological approaches can provide context-specific and sustainable solutions to issues confronting farming communities, by enabling consorting of the socioeconomic and ecological constraints on the farm. This study is the first attempt to test this argument, based on the challenge of sustaining the adoption of soil erosion control measures among smallholder farmers producing Coffea arabica on the Rwenzori Mountain in Uganda. Here, the adoption of soil erosion control measures remains a challenge, despite the efforts of conventional agricultural advisory services in local governments. Using a qualitative research approach, we contrasted the elements of agroecology with the local discourses, to identify if they would provide a panacea for sustaining the adoption of soil erosion control measures. The results indicated that, generally, the agroecology elements harmonized with the local-context discourses on soil erosion control, in contrast to the conventional approach promoted through the agricultural advisory services. For example, the local discourse on a participatory process in developing soil erosion control measures linked with the Co-creation and Knowledge-Sharing element of agroecology; the discourse on concurrent and joint implementation of soil erosion control measures matched with the Synergy and Diversity elements of agroecology; and the argument for sustaining soil erosion control adoption through rewarding adopters and penalizing non-adopters, in line with the Responsible Governance and the Circular and Solidarity Economy elements of agroecology. Drawing conclusions on the implications of these findings, we argue that consideration of the Agroecology Elements at all stages in the process of soil erosion control would foster the sustained adoption of soil erosion control measures.

Post Debarking Response of <i>Prunus africana</i> (Hook. F) Kalkman (<i>Rosaceae</i>) Trees at Two Exploitation Sites in North Kivu (Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo)

“…According to Nakulopa et al (2022), the average annual precipitation is around 1500 mm per year. However, Russell et al (Tibasiima et al, 2022). As a function of the months of the year, the average temperature remains relatively stable although the averages of the dry seasons are slightly higher than the averages of the wet months (Table 1).…”

“…Indeed, the Ruwenzori Mountains like other regions of East Africa experience great rainfall variability, both in time and space (Nakulopa et al, 2022). In the Ruwenzori Mountains, the temporal variation of rainfall is characterized by a bimodal pattern with a rainy season from March to May and Legend: P is the average monthly precipitation (mm), Tme is the average temperature, Tmin is the minimum temperature and Tmax is the maximum temperature (in ˚C) and RH is the relative air humidity (%) for the period 1981 to 2021. another from August to November (Jacobs et al, 2016;Taylor et al, 2009;Tibasiima et al, 2022), reflecting the twice-annual passage of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ZCIT) in the region (Garelick et al, 2022;McGlynn et al, 2010;Russell et al, 2009;Taylor et al, 2009;Xue et al, 2017). Spatial distribution is controlled by orographic variation in mountain height (Jacobs et al, 2016;Nakulopa et al, 2022;Taylor et al, 2009).…”

Re-assembling land degradation: toward a nature-society-inclusive soil erosion management strategy. A case of the Rwenzori region, Uganda

“…More specifically, by focusing on the natural elements, scientists adhere to the hazard paradigm, depoliticizing soil erosion control, and thus ignoring the socioeconomic aspects through which events like soil erosion occur (Zakour and Swager, 2018). They also, neglect local social learning as well as indigenous knowledge, infringing a systems approach and practices that would enhance tackling soil erosion (Tibasiima et al, 2022). This, according to various studies (Boardman, 2006;Akhtar-Schuster et al, 2011;Wilson et al, 2017;Bwambale et al, 2022b), also limits understanding of how anthropogenic and natural processes interact to cause soil erosion, and hampers the development of holistic strategies to best tackle it (Ashmore, 2015).…”

“…This implies that soil erosion control addressing the social and the natural aspects should be observed as "two faces of the same coin." Thus the social is integrated with the natural or non-anthropogenic, and the natural, vice versa, with the social, thereby pointing to a nature-society-inclusive contextspecific soil erosion management strategy (Bewket, 2011;Tibasiima et al, 2022).…”

“…The management of soil erosion has not just continuously pointed to an understanding of land degradation as an assemblage or hybrid of the natural and anthropogenic aspects, but also, an epistemology that levels the grounds between scientists, policymakers, and farmers whose farm production, as well as livelihoods, are at-risk (Latour, 1993;Boardman, 2006;Ashmore, 2015;Poesen, 2018;Tibasiima et al, 2022;Mertens et al, 2023). The assemblage perspective welcomes different ontological groups, thereby enabling conceptualizing phenomena across multiple disciplines, including natural and social sciences, as well as among farmers, scientists, and policymakers.…”