The state of agricultural landscapes in the Mediterranean: smallholder agriculture and land abandonment in terraced landscapes of the Ricote Valley, southeast Spain

Katharina Heider,Andrea L Balbo,Jürgen Scheffran,Juan Miguel Rodriguez Lopez

doi:10.1007/s10113-020-01739-x

Katharina Heider, Andrea L Balbo + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01739-x

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Abstract

The fast and broad adoption of mechanization and chemical inputs in Mediterranean terraced agriculture, combined with warming climate trends, has led to the progressive degradation of environmental and social conditions. These factors have concurred with the increasing abandonment of smallholder agriculture. We aimed to detect and quantify the progression of cultivated and abandoned terraced fields in the Ricote Valley between 2016 and 2019 while also exploring reasons for land abandonment over the past decades. To quantify cultivated and abandoned agricultural terraces, we conducted (1) a terrace detection based on Lidar and cadaster data, (2) a land use classification based on Sentinel imagery, and (3) an investigation of the reasons for land abandonment based on participant observation and an expert survey. Our results show high rates of abandonment compared to the total available agricultural terraced area in the Ricote Valley. In 2016, 56% of the detected terraced area was classified as not cultivated. In 2019, the percentage decreased to 40%. Small parcels are cultivated to a higher percentage than large or medium-sized parcels. We identified five main reasons underlying land abandonment: (1) low income of farmers; (2) land fragmentation resulting in higher transaction costs; (3) lack of interest in agricultural activities among young generations; (4) lack of modernization; and (5) emotional bonds preventing the sale of abandoned parcels. We stressed the importance of a place-based mixed method approach to gain a comprehensive understanding of the specificities of a given research area.

Highlights

Terraced smallholder agriculture is an important component of Mediterranean landscapes
Like in most European regions (Chemnitz 2019), the agricultural area covered by small and medium-sized parcels decreased between 2016 and 2019, while the agricultural area covered by large parcels expanded
We examined the most recent trends of smallholder agriculture in the Ricote Valley, quantified the cultivation and abandonment of traditional orchards between 2016 and 2019, and investigated the reasons for abandonment using a mixed method approach

Summary

Introduction

Terraced smallholder agriculture is an important component of Mediterranean landscapes. Reg Environ Change (2021) 21: 23 homogenization of agricultural landscapes (Cramer et al 2018; Endenburg et al 2019; German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2018; IAASTD 2009; Kurz 2018; Lefebvre et al 2015; Springmann et al 2018; Plieninger et al 2006; Vicente-Serrano et al 2014) These factors have concurred with an increasing abandonment of smallholder agriculture over the past decades (Chemnitz 2019; European Commission 2019; Lasanta et al 2017b; Lomba et al 2019). Because of these and other negative externalities of current agricultural practices, an increasing number of authors are calling for changes in the current agricultural system and challenging the productivity paradigm (Altieri and Nicholls 2012; Bernard and Lux 2017; Freibauer et al 2011; Hathaway 2016; IAASTD 2009; IPES-FOOD 2016; Lomba et al 2019; Reynolds et al 2014; WBGU 2011)

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