Expansion Of Cash Crops Research Articles

Leverage points for tackling unsustainable global value chains: market-based measures versus transformative alternatives

Tropical forests are rapidly disappearing due to the expansion of cash crops to meet demands from distant markets. Pressing concerns on deforestation impacts resulting from the global trade of tropical commodities have led some high-income countries’ governments to consider diverse regulatory and trade levers to tackle the problem. These include proposals for new supply chain due diligence legislation concerning imports of forest-risk products and the inclusion of environmental measures in trade deals. To contribute to this debate, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of existing data on global trade and consumption patterns of tropical commodities, attribution of commodity production to deforestation, trade agreements, and progress in the implementation of crop sustainability standards. We used global data on key tropical commodities of oil palm, cocoa, and coffee. Our study shows that high-income countries have the highest per capita consumption for the three commodities evaluated and that consumption rates have dramatically increased in the last two decades. We discuss a range of measures that can potentially be required to tackle deforestation in global supply chains, which are currently being considered by policymakers, before discussing the kinds of post-growth, convivial approaches that are often excluded by the framing. Given the inherent expansionary nature of global market dynamics, we show that market-based initiatives are inadequate to tackle continuing deforestation and socio-ecological degradation. More transformative solutions amplify commoning and post-growth approaches are required to lead to some uncoupling of trade and territorialising of economic activity to fit within planetary boundaries and allow for plural values.

Assessment of Homegarden Agroforestry Practices: Case Study of Horticultural Crop Production Trends, and Contribution towards Biodiversity Conservation and Local Livelihoods

Homegarden (HG) in southwestern Ethiopia is a well-known practice that plays an important role not only in socioeconomic aspects, but also in biodiversity conservation. However, increased human population in line with the scarcity of land for food production and expansion of cash crops in the area have put pressure on the component diversity of which horticultural crops are the major. The aim of this study was to examine the trends of horticultural crop production based on local's point of view and measures of plant diversity by using multistage sampling from a total of 133 households and 15 key informants using a semi-structured questionnaire with 9 FGD discussions. Descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and diversity index measures were used for data analysis and interpretation. Results showed that socioeconomic variables had a significant impact on farmers' perceptions of horticultural crop production trends (explaining 58% of the variance). Most of the respondents agreed that the little progress towards horticultural production was related to market efficiency. The study also revealed a total of 79 plant species, grouped in the order of herbs (42%), trees (28%), shrubs (24%), and vines (6%). The diversity index indicated that the plant species present in HG of the study area had moderately high diversity and species richness. Keywords: Homegarden Agroforestry, production trends, Biosphere Reserve, Biodiversity DOI: 10.7176/JEES/13-3-01 Publication date: April 30 th 2023

Expansion of biofuel cash-crops and its geoethical implications in the scope of groundwater governance

Expansion of biofuel cash-crops and its geoethical implications in the scope of groundwater governance

SPECIES COMPOSITION OF REPTILES IN DA HUOAI DISTRICT, DI LINH PLATEAU, LAM DONG PROVINCE

Lam Dong province is home to a highly diverse reptilian fauna that is under increasing threat by ongoing habitat loss and modification. Since 2011, there have been seven new reptilian species discovered in Lam Dong province indicating that the knowledge of reptilian diversity in the area is still incomplete. In July and August 2020, we conducted two short field trips to survey reptiles in Da Huoai district, Di Linh plateau, Southern Lam Dong province. According to morphological comparisons, we firstly reported the list of 14 reptile species from this area including five lizard species and nine snake species. Two species Coelognathus flavolineatus and Pareas temporalis are reported from Lam Dong province for the first time. Among recorded reptile species, there are one endemic species to Vietnam (Pareas temporalis) and two vulnerable species (Physignathus cocincinus and Trimeresurus rubeus) according to the IUCN Red List (2022). Our new records bring the total number of reptilian species in Lam Dong province to 99 species with four turtle species, 57 snake species, and 38 lizard species. Due to the reptile faunal differences and the expansion of cash crops, the construction of roads, houses, and associated infrastructure, further surveys for the possible existence of other reptilian species in the Di Linh plateau are suggested.

Exploring farmers' agrobiodiversity management practices and knowledge in clove agroforests of Madagascar

Abstract Interactions between farmers and agrobiodiversity are key drivers of agroecosystems sustainability and of the resilience of such systems to perturbations, but research into the human/nature interactions have overlooked some important aspects of agrobiodiversity management. In particular, farmers' ecological knowledge of the spatial organisation of plant diversity remains an open question, although knowledge and practices have major implications for the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. Our study addresses this question by analysing how farmers spatially organise plant species in agroforests based on their knowledge of species interactions and interactions with the environment. The Analanjirofo region on the north‐east coast of Madagascar provides an interesting context to explore this issue in clove‐based agroforests, as these systems were developed by farmers as a sustainable alternative to the traditional system of shifting rice cultivation. Using an emic approach, that is based on the farmers' perspective, and participatory mapping, we studied plant diversity and its spatial organisation in 17 clove‐based agroforests and in 28 management sub‐units defined by farmers in a village of Vavatenina district. The plant functions and farmers' knowledge of plant interactions with clove tree were recorded in semi‐structured interviews, and the interactions were represented in a cognitive map. Farmers manage more than 50 plant species associated with diverse functions. Analysis of participatory maps identified four main types of species association as a function of the age of the clove trees and the associated plant diversity, and different spatial organisation patterns as a function of the topography and the surrounding species. Analysis of farmers' knowledge provided valuable insights into spatial organisation practices, how farmers perceive the adaptation of plant species to biophysical heterogeneity of the environment and whether they can be associated with other species. Our findings and methods pave the way for further interdisciplinary research on farmers/nature interactions to support the development of agrobiodiversity‐based systems taking into account farmer and scientific knowledge and practices, especially in the tropics where the expansion of cash crops in input‐intensive and mono‐cropping systems has driven major disruptions to smallholder agriculture.

Assessment of the Link Between the Disseminations of Cash Crops and Water in Community Managed Small Scale Irrigation: Hare Small Scale Irrigation, Southern Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, the agricultural sector which is the vital sector in the economic development and poverty reduction. In this scheme, there are different groups of farmers who has been assumed to be the model and ordinary farmers by the current Ethiopian ruling party (FDRE). From this, the different farmers was selected from the model and ordinary farmers and grouped under the different investment models based on their crop choice. In the analysis, there are four elements of strategies through can get the water security. The location can influence the water access for the different water users. Based on this, the farmers located at the head-end while the farmers located at the tail-end of the scheme have the limited access for the water. Similarly, peoples can influence the water security through “know who”. Based on this, the large plot holders and banana growers are concentrated at the head-end and middle of the scheme making the close contact with the water committees, they have the sufficient water access relatively compared with small plot holders and tail-enders. On the other hand, the farmers can get the water security from access to the technologies. From this regard, there is a recursive relationship between the distribution of water and the expansion of cash crops in the irrigation scheme. This recursive relationship is affected by the different strategies for securing access to water including the location of the plots, the “know-who”, the creating of hydraulic property relations and the access to technology.

Contribution of Parkland Agroforestry Practices to the Rural Community Livelihood and Its Management in Southern Ethiopia

Parkland agroforestry which is a system practiced for many local populations is very important for food security, microclimate amelioration, income generation and environmental protection, and is found at different corners of the world, primarily in the semi-arid and sub-humid zones of Africa. It is reported that agroforestry practice is an aged practice in the Ethiopian farming systems of which parkland trees comprise the large part of agricultural landscapes and it is also the most dominant agroforestry practice in the semi-arid and sub-humid zones of Ethiopia. This study was conducted on farmers’ parkland Agroforestry practice in Burka Ebela of Bule Hora District Southern Ethiopia which was purposely selected. The objective of this study was to assess contribution of parkland Agroforestry practices to the rural livelihood community. A total of 90 respondents were selected in a systematic sample way from total households of 888 in the study area based on formula used. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result obtained from the survey showed that, 11 tree species as parkland tree were identified. From those identified tree species the most preferred trees by farmers are: <i>Accia Abyssinica, Accia Albida, Cordia Africana, Croton Macrostachyus Eucalyptus, FicusVasta, Millettia Ferruginea, Podocarpus Falcatus, Rhamnus Priniode and Ricicus Commonis</i> and community used those trees for different purpose such as; for food security, microclimate amelioration, economic benefits, environmental protection, household energy, household utensils, cultural values, traditional medicines and fodder. Challenge to parkland Agroforestry practice in the study area were the exotic tree expansion, plant diseases transmission from old trees to young trees, small land size and lack of replanting. Moreover, these trees are facing challenges like: expansion of cash crops through removal of the parkland trees from the farm area. Even though common management of parkland agroforestry system on the study area was thinning and prunings, more people do not management parkland tree well.

Women's and Men's Work: The Production and Marketing of Fresh Food and Export Crops in Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACTFresh food markets have been a fixture of the social and economic landscape of urban and rural PNG since colonial times. They were often the first points of engagement with the market economy, especially for women, who as small‐scale producers, sold surplus produce from their food gardens located on communally‐owned land. Although local food markets have remained an important livelihood for women, the later adoption and expansion of perennial export cash crops like coffee and cocoa overshadowed food production for local markets as men dominated export crop production on land alienated from communal ownership for decades or permanently. New forms of social relations of production and more exclusive forms of land tenure emerged to accommodate export crop production that were very different from those governing the production and marketing of fresh food. Market values and a trend towards individualisation of production with less capacity to mobilise labour through reciprocal labour exchange networks have characterised export crop production. With the income benefits captured largely by men, women began redirecting their labour to fresh food production where they were able to exercise more control of production and income while still mobilising labour through indigenous labour exchange arrangements. Attempts by men to appropriate the income of women and sons’ labour in export cropping were greater during flush periods when income levels were high, and they were less likely to attempt to appropriate this income in low crop periods when incomes were lower. However, with the recent emergence of female entrepreneurers earning relatively large sums of money in large‐scale, profit‐driven vegetable production, the moral frameworks governing food production are coming to resemble those governing export crops, and making labour more difficult to mobilise. Despite women being key players in these changes, we argue there is an emerging risk that men will attempt to assert control over this income or move into vegetable production themselves and possibly marginalise women in the process.

Evaluating the effect of forest loss and agricultural expansion on Sumatran tigers from scat surveys

Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) are a critically endangered carnivore restricted to the island of Sumatra, and like many other large mammals on the Indonesian archipelago, they are threatened by high levels of poaching and widespread habitat degradation. Here, we conduct the first range-wide assessment of Sumatran tiger genetics using scat surveys and show that the wild population retains levels of genetic heterozygosity comparable to mainland tigers. However, the population also exhibits signs of subdivision due to the unprecedented rates of deforestation and land conversion in the last 30–40 years. The fact that this subspecies retains such levels of heterozygosity despite high rates of habitat loss and increasing isolation suggests a form of genetic extinction debt with an elevated risk of extinction if no action is taken within the next 30–100 years (see Kenney et al., 2014). However, the inherent time delay in extinction debt provides opportunities for conservation if habitat quality can be improved and connections between existing population fragments can be made. Our study highlights the importance of genetic studies for providing baseline information to improve the population management of highly threatened carnivore species. Mitigating further habitat degradation and expansion of oil palm and other cash crops in this region would improve the viability not only of Sumatran tiger populations, but of other threatened large mammal species as well.

Parkland Agroforestry of Ethiopia; Key to Production, Productivity, Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Mitigation: A Review

Compiled information on parkland agroforestry tree species in relation to diversity, tree management options and the challenges of the system is important for production and productivity, and biodiversity conservation through availing the required information which in turn has an implication to the sustainability of the system and climate change mitigation. So, the aim of this review paper is to compile information on parkland agroforestry practices of Ethiopia, particularly: on tree species diversity, their roles, management options available and challenges of the practice. Parkland agroforestry which is a system practiced by many local populations comprises the large part of agricultural landscapes in Ethiopia and is very important in different aspects such as; for food security, microclimate amelioration, economic benefits, environmental protection, household energy, household utensils, cultural values, traditional medicines, and fodder. There are many indigenous multipurpose tree species scattered on farmlands in Ethiopia, and the common one includes: Millettia ferruginea, Cordia africana, Ficus vasta, Ficus sur, Croton macrostachyus and Faidherbia albida. However, nowadays these trees are facing challenges like: expansion of exotic trees in the expense of the native ones, expansion of cash crops through removal of the parkland trees from the farm area, climate change, land shortage and tenure system which require high emphasis for the production and productivity as well as sustainability of the system especially, in this era of climate change; hence this system is one of climate change mitigation options.

Expansion of oil palm and other cash crops causes an increase of the land surface temperature in the Jambi province in Indonesia

Abstract. Indonesia is currently one of the regions with the highest transformation rate of land surface worldwide related to the expansion of oil palm plantations and other cash crops replacing forests on large scales. Land cover changes, which modify land surface properties, have a direct effect on the land surface temperature (LST), a key driver for many ecological functions. Despite the large historic land transformation in Indonesia toward oil palm and other cash crops and governmental plans for future expansion, this is the first study so far to quantify the impacts of land transformation on the LST in Indonesia. We analyze LST from the thermal band of a Landsat image and produce a high-resolution surface temperature map (30 m) for the lowlands of the Jambi province in Sumatra (Indonesia), a region which suffered large land transformation towards oil palm and other cash crops over the past decades. The comparison of LST, albedo, normalized differenced vegetation index (NDVI) and evapotranspiration (ET) between seven different land cover types (forest, urban areas, clear-cut land, young and mature oil palm plantations, acacia and rubber plantations) shows that forests have lower surface temperatures than the other land cover types, indicating a local warming effect after forest conversion. LST differences were up to 10.1 ± 2.6 °C (mean ± SD) between forest and clear-cut land. The differences in surface temperatures are explained by an evaporative cooling effect, which offsets the albedo warming effect. Our analysis of the LST trend of the past 16 years based on MODIS data shows that the average daytime surface temperature in the Jambi province increased by 1.05 °C, which followed the trend of observed land cover changes and exceeded the effects of climate warming. This study provides evidence that the expansion of oil palm plantations and other cash crops leads to changes in biophysical variables, warming the land surface and thus enhancing the increase of the air temperature because of climate change.

Recent Changes in Agricultural Land Use in the Riverine Area of Nakhon Phanom Province, Northeast Thailand

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)IntroductionAlthough it is known that the agrarian transformation in Northeast Thailand has resulted in major changes in land use in the region, including a decline in the area of natural forest due to the expansion of cash crops and the conversion of agricultural land into the new housing estates that surround the region's rapidly expanding urban centers, detailed empirical studies on the nature and causes of land use changes in specific areas are lacking. Therefore, the present study was carried out in order to describe recent changes in agricultural land use and identify the factors influencing these changes in two districts along the bank of the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom Province. This area is of particular interest because it is characterized by more fertile soil and a higher amount of rainfall than is typical in Northeast Thailand. It also borders the Lao People's Democratic Republic, to which it has been linked by the Third Friendship Bridge between Nakhon Phanom and Khammouane Provinces, which was officially opened on November 11, 2011. This and other transportation links, which are being built in the context of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Corridor and ASEAN Economic Community, may be influencing changes in land use in the area.MethodologyResearch SiteThis study was conducted in Mueang and That Phanom Districts in Nakhon Phanom Province (coordinates: Upper left 17.99N, 103.96E, Upper right 17.99N, 104.86E, Lower left 16.70N, 103.96E, and Lower right 16.70N, 104.86E) in the valley of the Mekong River (Fig. 1). Neighboring provinces (clockwise from the south) are Mukdahan, Sakon Nakhon, and Bueng Kan. In the northeast, the province borders Khammouane of Laos. The northern part of the province has both uplands and forest-covered plains and is drained by the Song Kram and the smaller Oun Rivers. The southern part is mostly flatland, with the Kum the only notable river. The provincial capital, the city of Nakhon Phanom, is located directly on the bank of the Mekong.Mueang Nakhon Phanom is the capital district of Nakhon Phanom Province. Mueang District is subdivided into 15 subdistricts (tambol), which are further subdivided into 169 villages (muban). The city of Nakhon Phanom (thesaban mueang) covers all of Nai Mueang and Nong Saeng Subdistricts as well as parts of At Samat and Nong Yat Subdistricts.That Phanom District is in the southern part of Nakhon Phanom Province. The district is named after Wat Phra That Phanom, the most important Buddhist temple in the region. The district is divided into 12 subdistricts, which are further subdivided into 142 villages. That Phanom Municipality covers parts of That Phanom and That Phanom Nuea Subdistricts.Data SourcesLand use maps for 2006 and 2010 of both districts were obtained in shapefile format from Land Development Department Office 4 in Ubon Ratchatani. These maps were made from unclouded and terrain corrected Landsat images in 2006 and 2010. Image processing and data manipulation were conducted using ERDAS IMAGINE 8.6 and ArcGIS 9.1. A handheld Garmin GPS eTrex HC (12-15 m accuracy) was used to obtain the coordinates of plots with different types of land uses. Some ancillary data were also used as references in image processing (Land Development Department 2010).Information on the causes of some important types of land use changes in several localities was collected from local officials and farmers by holding focus groups. This was done after the changes in land use were analyzed and several problematic types of change were identified, especially conversion of paddy fields to forests and vice versa.Method of AnalysisSpatial analysis employing the Decision Support System Research and Development Network for Agricultural and Natural Resource Management (DSSARM)4 Program was used to identify all plots that had been converted from one land use to a different one between 2006 and 2010. …

Reorienting paradoxical land use policies towards coherence: A self-adaptive ensemble learning geo-simulation of tea expansion under different scenarios in subtropical China

The expansion of cash crops has raised contradicting interests between two bureaucratic bodies (the economy-oriented one that advocates cash crop production and the conservation-oriented one that focuses on natural resources protection) in many places around the world. Recent past has saw growing efforts on the theoretical linkages between cash crop production and conservation, but the solutions to the cash cropping −related land use conflicts remain as violent controversy. Using a geo-simulation approach, this paper models the tea expansion under different policy scenarios and evaluates the effectiveness of these policies in Anji County (China), as a contribution to the scientific basis for formulating sustainable cash cropping practices and alternative land use policies. In particular, a new self-adaptive cellular automaton model based on ensemble learning (EL-CA) is developed and three policy scenarios (economy-over-conservation (EOC), conversion-over-economy (COE), and economy-balance-conservation (EBC)) are set to predict the tea expansion patterns in 2025. Results show that the EL-CA model significantly outperforms the traditional CA models based on empirical statistics. We find that the tea expansion under the EOC scenario is much more intensive than that under the COE and EBC scenarios. The most outstanding ecological consequence of tea expansion is the occupation of forests. Employing an equivalent coefficient approach, we further quantify the trade-offs between economic incomes (from tea expansion) and ecological loss (due to ecosystem service value (ESV) declines) under the three policy scenarios. In the EOC scenario, the loss in ESV far exceeds the benefit of tea expansion. Net change of ESV is higher than that of economic return under the COE. The economic benefit is approximately equal to the ecological loss in the EBC scenario. The EBC should be a socially preferred scenario, since it leads to sustainable tea expansion and minimal ecological impacts. Though the EBC scenario is a desirable choice, how to enforce these policies is an important consideration. Given the complexity in the Chinese policy context, we finally propose several possible measures to promote the coherence of paradoxical policies involving the allocation of land for cash crop cultivation.

‘The fridge in the forest’: Historical trajectories of land tenure regulations fostering landscape transformation in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia

Indonesia has attracted increasing global attention in recent years due to concerns over large-scale deforestation. The island of Sumatra in particular is severely affected by the rapid expansion of monoculture cash crops. Since Dutch colonial times, land tenure regulations here have generally favored such resource exploitation. The current National Development Plan continues to see Sumatra as a center of resource production in order to eradicate poverty and accelerate national development. This developmental focus, however, is accompanied by contested land use scenarios.Taking a historical perspective, this research discloses different layers of past and present land tenure regulations to understand present contestations of land use, resource exploitation, and their social consequences. Based on a village case study, the research demonstrates how different political eras and their accompanying land tenure approaches are inscribed in today's local landscape. We found that de jure regulations which were added to customary laws created a situation of legal pluralism. Our case study explains how local actors craft institutional arrangements in a process of institutional bricolage to use ‘their’ resources.

Rodolphe De Koninck and Jean-François Rousseau 『Gambling with the Land: The Contemporary Evolution of Southeast Asian Agriculture』 Singapore: NUS Press, 2012, xv+187p.

Gambling with the Land: The Contemporary Evolution of Southeast Asian Agriculture Rodolphe De Koninck and Jean-Francois Rousseau Singapore: NUS Press, 2012, xv+187p.Gambling with the Land is one of a series of publications resulting from an international research project on Challenges of the Agrarian Transition in Southeast Asia funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The main aim of this book is to illustrate ongoing agricultural intensification and expansion throughout Southeast Asian countries by means of an analysis of statistical data. The book focuses in particular on rapid agricultural transformation that began in the middle of the twentieth century, and draws on statistics relating to agricultural production such as crops, livestock, land, production, yields, irrigated areas, the application of chemical fertilizers, the use of tractors, and so on. In spite of the limitations of the database examined in the book, in terms of both time and space and the quality of the data, the authors have managed to present a general analysis of agricultural data and offer a contemporary account of changes taking place in Southeast Asian agriculture.The authors identify four processes behind the agricultural transformation occurring in Southeast Asian countries: commoditization; globalization; agriculturalization; and relays and complementarities of agriculture among nations. These four processes have unevenly developed across the countries and have been influenced by various factors such as a range of national policies, a number of political events, wars, colonialism, regional and international agencies, and the ecological settings specific to the region. These processes bear out a unique feature of Southeast Asian countries: agricultural intensification and expansion go hand-in-hand, thereby contradicting the widely held belief that agricultural development intensifies only after expansion. Agriculturalization is the most interesting process discussed in the book. Research and statistical data confirm that there is an increase in labor migration as a result of the shift from agriculture to industry and services, on which the income structure has become more reliant on such domains. On the other hand, this book also demonstrates that agricultural employment in rural areas is actually increasing in Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines. As such, the keyword gambling is used to describe the nature of the people who largely bet on the land.The main feature of this book is its detailed use of data derived mainly from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAOSTAT) data sets between 1961 to 2007 and other figures that paint a contemporary picture of agriculture at the national level. In total, 138 figures account for a total of 187 book pages, and a large part of these are found in chapters 5 to 7 (these in fact make up the bulk of chapter 5's Agricultural Growth, Diversification, Intensification and Expansion, chapter 6's Expansion and Intensification of Food Crops and Increase in Livestock Production, and chapter 7's Expansion and Intensification of Cash Crops). Chapter 7, with 51 figures, is the most important part of this book. Statistics on cash crops such as palm oil, coffee, rubber, tea, coconut, copra oil, cocoa, and sugarcane are used to explain harvested areas, ratios, yields, productions, and the amount of exports and imports by country. …

Using Remote Sensing and Random Forest to Assess the Conservation Status of Critical Cerrado Habitats in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Brazil’s Cerrado is a highly diverse ecosystem and it provides critical habitat for many species. Cerrado habitats have suffered significant degradation and decline over the past decades due to expansion of cash crops and livestock farming across South America. Approximately 1,800,000 km2 of the Cerrado remain in Brazil, but detailed maps and conservation assessments of the Cerrado are lacking. We developed a land cover classification for the Cerrado, focusing on the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which may also be used to map critical habitat for endangered species. We used a Random Forest algorithm to perform a supervised classification on a set of Landsat 8 images. To determine habitat fragmentation for the Cerrado, we used Fragstats. A habitat connectivity analysis was performed using Linkage Mapper. Our final classification had an overall accuracy of 88%. Our classification produced higher accuracies (72%) in predicting Cerrado than existing government maps. We found that remaining Cerrado habitats were severely fragmented. Four potential corridors were identified in the southwest of Mato Grosso do Sul, where large Cerrado patches are located. Only two large patches remain in Mato Grosso do Sul: one within the Kadiwéu Indian Reserve, and one near the southeastern edge of the Pantanal-dominated landscape. These results are alarming for rare species requiring larger tracts of habitat such as the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus).

Southeast Asia. Gambling with the land: The contemporary evolution of Southeast Asian agriculture. By Rodolphe De Koninck and Jean-François Rousseau. Singapore: NUS Press, 2012. Pp. xv + 250. Maps, Plates, Notes, Bibliography and Index.

Southeast Asia. Gambling with the land: The contemporary evolution of Southeast Asian agriculture. By Rodolphe De Koninck and Jean-François Rousseau. Singapore: NUS Press, 2012. Pp. xv + 250. Maps, Plates, Notes, Bibliography and Index. - Volume 45 Issue 1

Shifting cultivation stability and change: Contrasting pathways of land use and livelihood change in Laos

Rural areas in Laos are experiencing a rapid transformation from traditional rice-based shifting cultivation systems to more permanent and diversified market-oriented cultivation systems. The consequences of these changes for local livelihoods are not well known. This study analyzes the impact of shifting cultivation change on the livelihood of rural people in six villages in three districts of northern and central Laos. Focus group discussions and household interview questionnaires were employed for data collection. The study reveals that the shifting cultivation of rice is still important in these communities, but it is being intensified as cash crops are introduced. Changes in shifting cultivation during the past ten years vary greatly between the communities studied. In the northern study sites, it is decreasing in areas with rubber expansion and increasing in areas with maize expansion, while it is stable in the central site, where sugarcane is an important cash crop. The impacts of land use change on livelihoods are also diverse. Cash crop producers hold more agricultural land than non-cash crop producers, and rubber and sugarcane producers have fewer rice shortages than non-producers. In the future, livelihood improvements in the central study site may be replicated in the northern sites, but this depends to a large extent on the economic and agricultural settings into which cash crops and other development opportunities are introduced. Moreover, the expansion of cash crops appears to counteract Lao policies aimed at replacing shifting cultivation areas with forests.

The Ghana Grains Partnership

A surge in international food prices that began in 2008 led to a variety of responses from African governments, ranging from price controls, trade restrictions and food security stocks, to facilitating longer-term increase in supply-side increases in production. In Ghana, the objectives emphasized broad-based, pro-poor agricultural growth, expansion of high-value cash crops and improved production of food crops. A hybrid of crop rotation plus addition of external inputs of fertilizers in a modern intensified farming regime was seen as a way forward. The Ghana Grains Partnership (GGP) was underpinned by this assumption, addressing a national shortfall in maize through a coordinated and market-led value chain development approach. The Partnership was initially made up of international and national agribusinesses, an agricultural development fund, farmers and farmer associations and a commercial bank and coordinated by Prorustica. The GGP adopted innovative approaches such as the coordination of commercial and non-commercial objectives. The focus on complete agricultural value chains provided a holistic approach to meet the needs of farmers for agricultural inputs and finance and addressed constraints to more effective commodity output markets. The Partnership's basic principles included the setting up of a farmers' grain association with the partners sharing the costs, benefits and risks.

Forest and agricultural resources of Dahomey, West Africa

Dahomey gained its autonomy in 1960. The abrupt changeover from the status of a colony to that of an independent nation naturally created problems and difficulties, affecting, in particular, the country's agricultural pattemn. Dahomey's revenue has always been based almost entirely on the export of agricultural crops, especially palm kernels and palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), peanuts, and karite or shea-nuts (Butyrospermum parkii Kotschy). During the past 8 years the total volume of imported foodstuffs, chiefly rice and cane sugar, has exceeded the value of exports, fluctuating each year between $10 and 20 millions (U.S.). To counteract this unfavorable trade balance, the immediate need of this developing country is the expansion of industrial or cash crops for export. Dahomey's current five-year plan, which started in 1966, gives high priority to the development of plantings of oil palm, cotton and peanut, rice and sugar production, the continuation of forestry and livestock development, and an increased production of food crops for domestic needs. Other projects being developed, or under consideration, are agriculture extension and education, animal husbandry, rinderpest eradication, promotion of the use of fertilizers and pesticides, improvement of agricultural cooperatives, and the establishment of pilot villages. In response to Dahomey's request for assistance in evaluating and developing its agricultural program, the United States Agency for International Development (AID) approached the International Agricultural Development Service (IADS) of the Department of Agriculture to make a survey of the country's agricultural sector. The team of five specialists, including the author,