Economics of sustainable land management

Mirzabaev, Alisher; Nkonya, Ephraim; Braun, Joachim von

doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2015.07.004

Cited by 40 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…In 2015, 23% of the sub-Saharan African population was estimated to be undernourished (FAO et al, 2015). Long-term food security is impaired by unsustainable land use (Bossio et al, 2010;McIntyre et al, 2009;Mirzabaev et al, 2015): in Africa, 65% of agricultural land was estimated to be affected by some form of degradation for the year 1990 (Oldeman, 1991). At the same time, unexploited land and water resources in wetlands represent an important potential for intensified and sustainable land use (Balasubramanian et al, 2007;Giertz et al, 2012;Rodenburg et al, 2014;Saito et al, 2013;Wakatsuki and Masunaga, 2005;Windmeijer and Andriesse, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between all-for-one and each-for-himself: On-farm competition for labour as determinant of wetland cropping in two Beninese villages

Paresys

Malézieux

Huat

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

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In sub-Saharan Africa, unexploited land and water resources in wetlands represent an important potential for intensified, sustainable and food-secure farms through rice production and market gardening. The lack of uptake of cropping in wetlands may be related to the ways in which resources are divided between family fields and individual fields. The management system on sub-Saharan African farms comprises a family management unit or a combination of a family management unit and one or more individual management units. The family management unit or the farm head controls production in family fields to satisfy family needs while the individual management units control production in individual fields to satisfy individual needs. Our objective was to investigate the diversity in farm management systems and the resulting uptake of cropping in wetlands for different farm types, as the first step towards suggestions for enhancing rice production and market gardening in wetlands. We studied farms in two case-study villages in Benin: Zonmon in the southern part and Pelebina in the north-western part. Farm typologies were developed based on random samples of 51 out of 134 farms (38%) from Zonmon and 50 out of 146 farms (34%) from Pelebina by combining principal component analysis and Ward's minimum variance clustering. Variables included in the PCA were related to levels of resource endowment (e.g., amounts of land, family labour, cash for purchasing chemical inputs and hiring labour) and to resource-use strategies including resource division between family fields and individual fields, and between uplands and wetlands. We identified 3 farm types in Zonmon and 5 farm types in Pelebina based on differences in resource-use strategies and in resource endowment. We found no trade-off between the existence of individual fields and the area under rice and market garden crops in wetlands. Labour abundance was the main factor driving both the occurrence of individual fields and the expansion of cropping in wetlands. Differences in labour division strategies between family and individual fields among farm types reflected differences in food and cash division strategies. Land use appeared strongly motivated by food self-sufficiency objectives and labour productivity, leading to prioritisation of upland over wetland areas. In wetlands, most farm types opted for cultivating market garden crops during the dry season when labour demand for upland fields was low. Our results indicate that increasing labour productivity in food crops and in rice and market garden crops would enhance the uptake of rice and market garden crops in wetlands. Creating credit facilities would increase the labour resource and allow farmers to hire labour, further contributing to wetland use. We discuss the relevance of a systemic farm analysis that enables distinguishing family and individual fields for understanding farm uptake of rice and market garden crops in wetlands. (Résumé d'auteur

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between all-for-one and each-for-himself: On-farm competition for labour as determinant of wetland cropping in two Beninese villages

Paresys

Malézieux

Huat

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

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“…Land capability evaluation aims to identify criteria for environmental limitations in the efforts of sustainable land use planning [23]; [24]; [25]; [26]. The classification of land capability is a scientific activity to assess the physical characteristics of land, soil quality, land management and farming activities [27]; [28]; [29]; [30]; [31]; [32].…”

Section: Introduction (mentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Use Suitabililty Evaluation Based on Land Capability in Mojokerto Regency

Firdaus

Soemarno

Sudarto

2018

IGTJ

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Evaluation of the environmental carrying capacity should be measured as part of sustainable land use planning. One of methods to evaluate this carrying capacity is land capability evaluation.. This study aims to evaluate the suitability of landuse in each of land capability classes in Mojokerto Regency. Land capability is obtained by spatial analysis and overlay of several criteria for land capability, included soil texture, effective soil depth, drainage, land slope, and soil erosion. The description of actual landuse is obtained using landsat 8 OLI images at coverage time in May 2018. The results of study show that the land capability in Mojokerto Regency varies from Class I to Class VIII. The actual land use in Mojokerto Regency are about 98% or 95314.33 Ha are suitable to the land capability, and 2% or of 2078.67 Ha are unsuitable to the land capability. Based on the environmental carrying capacity, about 78.85% or 76798.89 Ha of land in Mojokerto Regency are allocated accordingly, and 0.90% or of 875.29 Ha of land are allocated beyond their carrying capacity, 19.39% or 18884.18 Ha of land are allocated in a conditional manner so it needs any specific treatments of landuse.

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“…It is, therefore, difficult to carry out proper estimates. Assessing the environmental services of agriculture is also popular (e.g., [116,[133][134][135][136]). Critics, nevertheless, point out that the approach suffers from the usual theoretical and practical problems that affect neo-classical economics, and may actually produce detrimental effects when applied to resource conservation (e.g., [6,[117][118][119][137][138][139]).…”

Section: The Importance Of Preserving True Capital: Soil Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Degradation, Land Scarcity and Food Security: Reviewing a Complex Challenge

2016

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Soil health, along with water supply, is the most valuable resource for humans, as human life depends on the soil's generosity. Soil degradation, therefore, poses a threat to food security, as it reduces yield, forces farmers to use more inputs, and may eventually lead to soil abandonment. Unfortunately, the importance of preserving soil health appears to be overlooked by policy makers. In this paper, I first briefly introduce the present situation concerning agricultural production, natural resources, soil degradation, land use and the challenge ahead, to show how these issues are strictly interwoven. Then, I define soil degradation and present a review of its typologies and estimates at a global level. I discuss the importance of preserving soil capital, and its relationship to human civilization and food security. Trends concerning the availability of arable agricultural land, different scenarios, and their limitations, are analyzed and discussed. The possible relation between an increase in a country's GNP, population and future availability of arable land is also analyzed, using the World Bank's database. I argue that because of the many sources of uncertainty in the data, and the high risks at stake, a precautionary approach should be adopted when drawing scenarios. The paper ends with a discussion on the key role of preserving soil organic matter, and the need to adopt more sustainable agricultural practices. I also argue that both our relation with nature and natural resources and our lifestyle need to be reconsidered.

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Economics of sustainable land management

Cited by 40 publications

References 41 publications

Between all-for-one and each-for-himself: On-farm competition for labour as determinant of wetland cropping in two Beninese villages

Between all-for-one and each-for-himself: On-farm competition for labour as determinant of wetland cropping in two Beninese villages

Land Use Suitabililty Evaluation Based on Land Capability in Mojokerto Regency

Soil Degradation, Land Scarcity and Food Security: Reviewing a Complex Challenge

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