Abstract
Zimmerer, K. S. 2014. Conserving agrobiodiversity amid global change, migration, and nontraditional livelihood networks: the dynamic uses of cultural landscape knowledge. Ecology and Society 19(2): 1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06316-190201
Highlights
AGROBIODIVERSITY OF MAIZE LANDRACES IN CULTURAL LANDSCAPES My research is focused on the social-ecological dynamics of agrobiodiversity in the context of cultural landscapes to offer new management and policy options for in situ conservation and sustainability
Central questions included the following: (1) What are major agroecological functions and food-related services of the agrobiodiversity of Andean maize landraces, and how are they related to cultural landscapes and associated knowledge systems? (2) What are new migration-related livelihood groups, and how are their dynamic livelihoods propelled through global change, in particular international and national migration, linked to the use and cultural landscapes of agrobiodiversity? (3) What are management and policy options derived from the previous questions? Combined social-ecological services as both cultivation and food resources are found to function in relation to the cultural landscape
Three sets of connected questions guide this research: (1) What are major agroecological functions and food-furnishing functions of the agrobiodiversity of Andean maize landraces, and how are they related to cultural landscapes and associated knowledge systems? (2) What are new migration-related livelihood groups, and how are their dynamic livelihoods propelled through global change, in particular international and national migration, linked to the use and cultural landscapes of agrobiodiversity? (3) What are new management and policy options resulting from the findings in (1) and (2)? To address these questions, I constructed a conceptual framework based on cultural landscapes (Conceptual frameworks) and a mixed-methods design of research (Methods) using a casestudy representative of smallholder farmers in the tropical mountains and foothills of the western South American Andean countries
Summary
AGROBIODIVERSITY OF MAIZE LANDRACES IN CULTURAL LANDSCAPES My research is focused on the social-ecological dynamics of agrobiodiversity in the context of cultural landscapes to offer new management and policy options for in situ conservation and sustainability. Four principal components of agrobiodiversity are highlighted (Fig. 1): (1) genetic resources for food and agriculture; (2) biodiversity that supports ecosystem services of agriculture; (3) abiotic factors, e.g., climate; and (4) socioeconomic and cultural dimensions This new governance perspective of the Convention on Biological Diversity reflects the emphasis on global change, intensification, and ecosystem services in the use of agrobiodiversity for sustainability of land, water, and livelihood resources (Vandermeer et al 1998, Swift et al 2004, Jarvis et al 2007, Scherr and McNeely 2008, Zimmerer 2010a, 2013). Bolivia alone produces 33-40 races of maize, ∼8-10% of the total of Latin America and the Caribbean; Bolivian maize agrobiodiversity per unit area at the landrace level equals or exceeds any other country (Ramírez et al 1960, Goodman and Stuber 1983, Ávila et al 1998, Zimmerer 2013)
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