Local livelihoods and land users’ perceptions of land degradation in northwest Tunisia

Jendoubi, Donia; Hossain, Sarwar; Giger, Markus; Tomićević-Dubljević, Jelena; Ouessar, Mohamed; Liniger, Hanspeter; Speranza, Chinwe Ifejika

doi:10.1016/j.envdev.2020.100507

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Taking the three major components into consideration, the general LSI value was not high. This reflects that the NFLD and related control policies have caused a certain impact on the livelihoods of the surrounding rural residents, which is in line with existing studies which concluded that the general household livelihood is influenced by natural disasters or land degradation vulnerability [40][41][42][43][44][45].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Evaluation of Livelihood Sustainability in the Context of Natural Forest Land Degradation Vulnerability: A Case Study of Five Counties in China

Lin

2021

Sustainability

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Land degradation, especially natural forest land degradation (NFLD), is a severe environmental concern in China. This natural disaster itself and its derivative control policies have caused some impacts on surrounding farmers’ livelihood level and strategies, but the literature on the sustainable livelihood of different households in NFLD vulnerability is limited, and there is an urgent need to bridge the gap and conduct studies on the sustainable livelihood of Changting, Libo, Lixian, Menghai and Wuxi, the typical NFLD-prone areas in China. A new livelihood sustainability index (LSI) including livelihood asset, livelihood strategy and sustainability engagement is constructed to assess the basic situation. The results showed that: (1) The overall LSI of five NFLD areas was not high, and the social, financial and natural assets, in particular, were relatively low. A disparity was found among the five areas, and the rank sequence of the LSI value was sorted in a descending order: Changting > Menghai > Libo > Lixian > Wuxi. (2) In detail, farmers in Changting had the relative highest LSI because of the inherent high value of livelihood assets, which constrain the scores of the livelihood strategy and sustainability engagement. (3) Households in Libo, Menghai and Lixian had middle level LSI scores. The relative low livelihood assets in Libo and Menghai drove parts of local farmers to carry out off-farm/forestry employment, leading to high scores of livelihood strategy, while farmers in Lixian had lower livelihood diversification scores and higher sustainability engagement due to their working content for the local forestry bureau. (4) The low scores of the livelihood asset and sustainability engagement restricted farmers in Wuxi. A discussion of LSI in the NFLD vulnerability was conducted to determine the characteristics and analyze the reasons. Accordingly, targeted policy recommendations were proposed to realize a sustainable livelihood in NFLD areas.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Evaluation of Livelihood Sustainability in the Context of Natural Forest Land Degradation Vulnerability: A Case Study of Five Counties in China

Lin

2021

Sustainability

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“…On the other hand, some evidence shows that local people are willing to participate in soil recovery strategies in post‐conflict scenarios (Suarez, Arias‐Arévalo, Martinez‐Mera, Granobles‐Torres, & Enríquez‐Acevedo, 2018). Perceptions of the severity of land degradation often depends on education level, knowledge, and income source for the individuals, and whether they are affected or not by this environmental problem (Jendoubi et al, 2020; Marioara & Tăușan, 2016), but also on local ecological knowledge and farmers experience (Suarez, Árias‐Arévalo, & Martínez‐Mera, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the role of policy frameworks in developing land degradation in stakeholders perception from a post‐conflict perspective in Bosnia and Herzegovina

et al. 2020

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Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a developing country facing extensive land degradation. BiH exists as a decentralized state, where all land (e.g., agricultural and forest soils) and water resources are under exclusive jurisdiction of two entities and one district, rather than state-level legislation. Complex land-related administration occurs between entities that function independently from each other. The lack of coordination among entities frequently leads to political conflicts over land and limited data exchange which may further exacerbate current land degradation. This article investigates (a) stakeholders' perception of land degradation under complex institutional and policy structures; and (b) the current state of land degradation, with a focus on soil erosion as one important indicator of land degradation across the region. As a consequence of the Civil War that took place in BiH between 1992 and 1995, limited data on soil erosion and land status present additional challenges to those seeking to avoid, reduce, and reverse land degradation. Stakeholders reported that the existence of a policy framework as important to addressing land degradation, but not sufficient if implementation is weak. Decision makers reported that the existing policy frameworks are satisfactory, which was in contrast to other stakeholders. Reliable data are crucial for land degradation assessments and development of strategies and policy frameworks, but also better knowledge and awareness of stakeholder perceptions would foster their implementation. In summary, complex institutional structures underpin the weak communication and cooperation among institutions and stakeholders, which presents significant challenges for sustainable land management in post-conflict societies.

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“…In Table 1, the land area component is most negative (−5) for extensive pasture, degraded land (1A). Any farming method that results in land degradation is considered unacceptable by some consumers (scoring Z) (Özgüner, Eraslan & Yilmaz, 2012; Jendoubi et al ., 2020). The score for land area is high (−3) for most extensive grazing (1B) and −2 for beef production on fertilised irrigated pasture (2B), but −3 when concentrates are fed (2A).…”

Section: Assessment Of Sustainability Components For Beef Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A method for assessing sustainability, with beef production as an example

Broom

2021

Biological Reviews

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A comprehensive approach to decisions about the use of land and other world resources, taking full account of biological and other scientific information, is crucial for good decisions to be made now and in future. The sustainability of systems for producing food and other products is sometimes assessed using too narrow a range of component factors. A production system might be unsustainable because of adverse effects on a wide range of aspects of human welfare, animal welfare, or the environment. All factors should be included in sustainability evaluation, otherwise products or actions might be avoided without adequate consideration of key factors or of the diversity of production systems. A scoring method that is based on scientific information and potentially of general relevance is presented here, using beef production as a example with a review of each of its sustainability components. This includes an overall combined score and specific factors that make the system unacceptable for some consumers. The results show that, in this example, the sustainability of the best systems is very much better than that of the worst systems. By taking account of scores for a wide range of components of sustainability in comparing beef-production systems, better quality policies about beef use can be formulated than when statements referring only to one system are considered. The least sustainable beef-production systems are extensive grazing that causes land degradation and the use of feedlots or indoor housing with grain feeding. Semiintensive silvopastoral systems are the most sustainable beef-production systems, and well-managed pasture-fed beef from areas where crop production is uneconomic is also sustainable. This simple, scientifically based scoring system could be modified to use positive as well as negative scores and is of value for policy makers, researchers, producers, organisations aiming to improve sustainability, and the general public.

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Local livelihoods and land users’ perceptions of land degradation in northwest Tunisia

Cited by 24 publications

References 41 publications

Evaluation of Livelihood Sustainability in the Context of Natural Forest Land Degradation Vulnerability: A Case Study of Five Counties in China

Evaluation of Livelihood Sustainability in the Context of Natural Forest Land Degradation Vulnerability: A Case Study of Five Counties in China

Understanding the role of policy frameworks in developing land degradation in stakeholders perception from a post‐conflict perspective in Bosnia and Herzegovina

A method for assessing sustainability, with beef production as an example

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