Combining Multi-Dimensional Scaling and Cluster Analysis to Describe the Diversity of Rural Households

Pacini, Cesare; Colucci, Domenico; Baudron, Frédéric; Righi, E.; Corbeels, Marc; Tittonell, Pablo; Stefanini, Federico Mattia

doi:10.1017/s0014479713000495

Cited by 53 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…CATPCA was used to explore the relationships between variables and reduce large number of variables into smaller number of principal components (Pacini et al 2014). CATPCA was done using the 23 variables derived from the surveys (Table 1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diversity and nutrient balances of urban and peri-urban farms in Ethiopia

Tadesse

Oenema

Beek³

et al. 2018

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is important for food security in fast growing cities of developing countries. UPA also may have an important role in nutrient re-cycling at the interface of rural and urban areas. However, little is known about this role and whether it is different for different UPA systems. Here, we report on diversity and nutrient balances of UPA systems in three main cities of Ethiopia. Data collected from 425 households (Addis Ababa: 175, Adama: 126 Jimma: 124) were subjected to categorical principal component analysis and cluster analysis to classify the households. Four farm types per city and overall six: commercial livestock (cLS), commercial vegetable crop (cVC), subsistence field crop (sFC), cLScVC, cLScVCsFC and sVCsFC were identified across the three cities. Two types, cLS and cLScVC were common to the three cities. The farm types differed in resource endowment, income, soil fertility management and nutrient balances. cLS systems accumulated 450, 85 and 260 kg N, P and K ha -1 year -1 and had 26% N and P and 15% K use efficiency, respectively while sFC systems depleted -30 kg N and -17 kg K ha -1 year -1 and had 155% N and [ 100% K use efficiency. There was little exchange of manure and crop residue between LS, FC and VC systems. To use the potential role of UPA in nutrient recycling, a directive that imposes LS systems to distribute their surplus manure resources to proximate FC and VC systems and improve their nutrient use efficiency should be put in place.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, it is difficult to articulate strategies for UPA systems improvement because of its diversity and largely unknown socioeconomic and environmental performances (Chatterjee et al 2015). Thus, data is needed on farm types and nutrient balances of UPA systems (Pacini et al 2014). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and nutrient balances of urban and peri-urban farms in Ethiopia

Tadesse

Oenema

Beek³

et al. 2018

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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“…Excluding those outliers, cluster analysis using Ascending Hierarchical Classification (AHC) (Köbrich et al, 2003) was carried out. Following Pacini et al (2014) we normalized the data ((initial value − mean of the variable) / standard deviation of the variable) before the AHC to avoid the influence of different levels of variation due to the unit of measurement. In order to define cut-off values for the classification of farms, we used boxplots for the identification of variables with distinctive power.…”

Section: Establishment Of a Farm Typologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding farm trajectories and development pathways: Two decades of change in southern Mali

Falconnier

Descheemaeker

Mourik

et al. 2015

Agricultural Systems

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Institutional support for smallholders has been the motor for the expanding cotton production sector in southern Mali since the 1970s. Smallholder farms exhibit diverse resource endowments and little is known on how they benefit from and cope with changes in this institutional support. In this paper we explore farm trajectories during two decades (1994 to 2010) and their link with farm resource endowment and government support. We distinguished a favourable period for cotton production and an unfavourable period during which institutional support collapsed. A panel survey that monitored 30 farms in the Koutiala district in southern Mali over this period was analysed. Based on indicators of resource endowment and using Ascending Hierarchical Classification (AHC), farms were grouped into four types: High Resource Endowed farms with Large Herds (HRE-LH), High Resource Endowed (HRE) farms, Medium Resource Endowed (MRE) farms and Low Resource Endowed (LRE) farms. Average yield, labour productivity and food self-sufficiency status of each type were calculated. Farms remaining in the same type were classified as 'hanging in', while farms moving to a type of higher yields, labour productivity and food self-sufficiency status were classified as 'stepping up', and farms following the opposite trajectory of deteriorating farming conditions were classified as 'falling down'. The LRE farms differed from all other farm types due to lower yields, while both LRE and HRE farms differed from the MRE and HRE-LH farm types due to a combination of less labour productivity and less food self-sufficiency. During those two decades, 17% of the farms 'stepped up', while 70% of the farms remained 'hanging in', and only 13% of the farms 'fell down'. We found no obvious negative impact of the collapse of government support on farm trajectories. For MRE, HRE and HRE-LH farms, average N and P use intensity increased from 1994 to 2004 and then decreased during the following cotton crisis. On the other hand, organic fertilizer use intensity increased continuously over the entire monitoring period for HRE-LH and MRE farms. Crop yields did not change significantly over time for any farm type and labour productivity decreased. We discuss how technical options specific for different farm types (increase in farm equipment, sale of cereals, incorporation of legumes and intensification of milk production) and broader institutional change (improvement in finance system and infrastructure, tariffs) can enhance 'step up' trajectories for farming households and avoid stagnation ('hanging in') of the whole agricultural sector.

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“…The projected population increase is likely to lead to further structural and organizational changes in farming systems and can redirect trajectories with uncertain future outcomes in terms of food provision and income generation. While many studies analysed typologies of static farming systems at a certain point in time (Pacini et al, 2013;Tittonell, 2014), researchers often fail to understand how farming systems evolve in different directions by responding to historical and current drivers of change and how these changes shape the composition of landscapes in which farms are embedded (Carmona, Nahuelhual, Echeverría, & Báez, 2010). The lack of comparable information across intervals of time makes it difficult to assess whether rural livelihoods are diversifying or becoming more self-sufficient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers, farmers’ responses and landscape consequences of smallholder farming systems changes in southern Ethiopia

Kebede

Baudron²,

Bianchi

et al. 2019

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

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Ethiopia is now the second most populated country in Africa with more than 100 million people and an annual population growth rate of 3%. Here, we assess how the on-going expansion of arable land and urban areas is affecting the availability of common resources, such as forest and grazing land, and the availability of biomass for food, feed, and energy. Taking the Hawassa area in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia as a study case, this study aims at analysing the drivers of change of farming systems, assessing farmers' responses to these drivers and appreciating the consequences for the agricultural landscapes' composition. We found that (i) national-level policies, climate and soil fertility changes, population increase, and urban expansion were major drivers of farming systems change in the Hawassa area, (ii) forests and grasslands have been progressively replaced by cropland and urban areas, and (iii) these changes resulted in fragmentation and diversification of local agricultural landscapes with potential consequences for ecosystem service provision. Farmers responded with the following three main livelihood strategies: consolidation, diversification and specialization. These changes led to more diverse and fragmented agricultural landscapes. This research contributes to the ongoing debate about the viability of small farms.

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Combining Multi-Dimensional Scaling and Cluster Analysis to Describe the Diversity of Rural Households

Cited by 53 publications

References 37 publications

Diversity and nutrient balances of urban and peri-urban farms in Ethiopia

Diversity and nutrient balances of urban and peri-urban farms in Ethiopia

Understanding farm trajectories and development pathways: Two decades of change in southern Mali

Drivers, farmers’ responses and landscape consequences of smallholder farming systems changes in southern Ethiopia

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