Spatial variation in determinants of agricultural land abandonment in Europe

Levers, Christian; Schneider, Max; Prishchepov, Alexander V.; Estel, Stephan; Kuemmerle, Tobias

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.326

Cited by 188 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…Based on the survey data from 8031 rural households of 27 provinces in China and from the perspective of rural revitalization, this study explores the quantitative impacts of agricultural credit on farmland abandonment. Compared with the previous studies, the marginal contributions of this study are as follows: (1) this study constructs a theoretical analysis framework of "agricultural credit → Land 2019, 8, 184 9 of 14 rural market → farmland abandonment"; (2) this study discusses the quantitative and heterogeneous impacts of agricultural credit on farmland abandonment. Thus, this study enhances our understanding of the relationship between agricultural credit and farmland use.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Power of Agricultural Credit in Farmland Abandonment: Evidence from Rural China

Zeng

Xie

et al. 2019

Land

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Labor, land, and funds are keys to revitalizing rural areas around the world. Previous studies have focused on the impacts of funds on agricultural production, but placed little emphasis on its role in agricultural land-use transformation. Thus, this study explores the quantitative relationship between agricultural credit and farmland abandonment from the perspective of rural revitalization. Using data on 8031 households from 27 provinces obtained from China’s Labor Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), this study uses a Tobit model to examine the quantitative impacts of informal and formal agricultural credit on farmland abandonment. The results indicate that: (1) Access to agricultural credit helps to reduce farmland abandonment. (2) Compared with formal agricultural credit (provided by institutions), informal agricultural credit (provided by family and friends) is more significant in reducing farmland abandonment. Thus, this study enhances our understanding of the relationship between agricultural credit and farmland use. It will also prompt policymakers to improve rural financial markets in order to reduce the misallocation of farmland resources, thereby improving food security and rural economies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Farmland abandonment occurs extensively worldwide, in both developed and developing countries [1][2][3]. Since the 20th century, approximately 385-572 million km 2 of farmland has been abandoned [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power of Agricultural Credit in Farmland Abandonment: Evidence from Rural China

Zeng

Xie

et al. 2019

Land

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“…This is because most smallholder, rural communities and households are often highly dependent on the local landscapes and are tied to primary sector activities such as agriculture, forestry and the harvest of wild resources [1]. However, in many regions of the world increasing numbers of small-scale farming households are disengaging from arable production [2][3][4][5], including southern Africa [6][7][8][9]. For example, the amount of agricultural land that has been abandoned globally increased by over 150 million hectares from the 1940s to 1990s [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Availability of Non-Timber Forest Products under Forest Succession on Abandoned Fields along the Wild Coast, South Africa

Njwaxu

Shackleton

2019

Forests

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Large swathes of arable fields have been abandoned in many areas of the world over the last few decades driven by a multitude of local and broader-scale factors. Many former fields experience a change in vegetation composition and structure post-abandonment, typically through a process of plant succession. The changes in species and abundance mean that the nature and quantity of ecosystem services provided by the former fields also varies. We examined the types of provisioning services obtained from non-timber forest products (NTFPs) with increasing age since field abandonment. We sampled 43 former fields ranging in age since abandonment from approximately 7 to 55 years, and seven plots in intact forests. We held seven focus group discussions with local residents to determine uses of species found in the former fields. Plant cover and species richness increased with former field age, although old field community composition was also influenced by soil chemistry. Of the 177 species recorded, 70 (40%) had one or more uses, spanning six NTFP categories namely, food, building, medicinal, craft, cultural and energy. The number of NTFP species increased with increasing age of the former field, but the proportion of NTFP species declined from 80% in the youngest former fields to 65% in the oldest ones, which were similar to the 63% recorded within intact forests. The youngest former fields had more medicinal species than the older ones, as the abundance and diversity of herbaceous species declined with increasing woody plant cover. Species used for building and food (especially fruits) peaked when the former fields became dominated by woody plants. NTFPs used for craft were most abundant in the oldest sites. inadequately explored [9], for the livelihoods of those disengaging from agriculture, as well as the land and ecosystem goods and services the 'abandoned' land supplies or are in demand.The ecosystem goods and services provided by abandoned fields vary according to the prevailing climate, soils and disturbance regimens as well as the post-abandonment trajectory. In some settings there is a turnover of plant and animal species and communities on the old lands, typically, but not always, characterised by increasing species richness, functional diversity, complexity, soil nutrients and vegetative biomass and carbon storage [13][14][15][16]. These changes are often referred to as plant succession [13,17]. After the concept of plant succession was first introduced in the late 19th century, the nature, rate and predictability of plant succession have been a central topic in ecology for decades [18,19]. Yet its application to contemporary understandings of the supply of ecosystem goods and services remains under-researched, especially in the context of the widespread abandonment of smallholder fields. In locations where a turnover of species, functions and processes is manifest, then the ecosystem services will vary accordingly. For example carbon sequestration is typically greater in the later stages of succession than in...

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“…Changes in land use patterns are very important because of their effects on the environment and human livelihood [1]. One example of such a change occurs in farmland, the abandonment of which is a commonly observed phenomenon in different parts of the world [2][3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of Farmland Abandonment and Its Determinants in the Transboundary Gandaki River Basin

et al. 2019

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Farmland abandonment is a common phenomenon worldwide, including in the Gandaki River Basin (GRB) in the central Himalayas. This study examined the status of farmland abandonment, along with its trends and determinants, based primarily on interviews with 639 households in different physiographic regions: Mountain, Hill, Tarai and Gangetic Plain (GP). Binary logistic regression was used to examine the contributions of various factors of farmland abandonment. The results indicate that nearly 48%, 15%, 4%, and 16% of total farmland (khet and bari) in the Mountain, Hill, Tarai and GP regions, respectively, has been abandoned. Such differences in the proportion of farmland abandonment among the regions are mainly due to variations in biophysical conditions, agricultural productivity, access to infrastructure facilities, off-farm employment opportunities, and the occurrence of natural hazards. The major determinants for farmland abandonment were also found to vary within the region. Distance from market centers to residence, reduction in the labor force as a result of migration, and household head age were found to be significant factors in farmland abandonment in the Mountain region. Similarly, in the Hill region, eight significant factors were identified: distance from market centers to residence, distance from residence to farmland, lack of irrigation facilities (p = 0.004), reduction in labor force (p = 0.000), household head occupation, lack of training for household head and size of bari land. Household head occupation and household head age were found to play significant roles for farmland abandonment in the Tarai region. In the GP region, distance to market centers and lack of irrigation facilities had positive relationships with farmland abandonment. It is suggested that specific policies addressing the differences in physiographic region, such as horticulture and agroforestry for the Mountain and Hill regions and crop diversification and the adaptation of drought tolerant species with improvement in irrigation systems for the GP region, need to be formulated and implemented in order to utilize the abandoned farmland and have environmental, economic, and sustainable benefits.

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Spatial variation in determinants of agricultural land abandonment in Europe

Cited by 188 publications

References 98 publications

Power of Agricultural Credit in Farmland Abandonment: Evidence from Rural China

Power of Agricultural Credit in Farmland Abandonment: Evidence from Rural China

The Availability of Non-Timber Forest Products under Forest Succession on Abandoned Fields along the Wild Coast, South Africa

Status of Farmland Abandonment and Its Determinants in the Transboundary Gandaki River Basin

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