Integrated Natural Resource Management Research Articles

PENDAMPINGAN PETERNAK KAMBING PADA WILAYAH PENYANGGA PERUSAHAAN PTPV VII KABUPATEN LAMPUNG TENGAH

In the context of rural economic development, it is important to implement a social innovation collaborative model with social agents (industry, government, NGOs, and other organizations), where farmers take collective action to build a sustainable agricultural production system. Using the INRM (Integrated Natural Resource Management) method, the FEB Unila Community Service Team developed an Inclusive Social Business Model that encourages local farmer groups to collaborate on economic and social development activities through goat farming. INRM is a method of development-oriented research that aims to simultaneously reduce poverty, increase food security, and achieve environmental protection. The result of the community service is the formation of a livestock farmer group organization which is expected to become a local institution that plays the role of the Inclusive Social Business Model, encouraging sustainable economic and social programs to increase the income of farmers particularly, and the community of Mekar Jaya Village in general.

A SYSTEM DESIGN OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN AN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY

AbstractIntegrated Natural Resource Conservation and Development (INRCD) Projects are efforts at worldwide locations to promote economic development of local communities consistent with conservation of natural resources. This umbrella term includes Integration Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs) introduced by the World Wide Fund to combine social development and conservation s through the use of socio-economic investments, and the Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) research and development efforts that have employed a systems approach for quantitative modeling and optimization. In the spirit of the INRCD framework, we describe the development of a system-level agriculture and energy model comprising engineering and economic models for crop, irrigation, and energy subsystem designs for a community in Central Uganda. The model architecture is modular allowing modifications for different system configurations and project locations. We include some initial results and discuss next steps for system optimization, refining model assumptions, and modeling community social benefits as drivers of such projects.

INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCE AND CONSERVATION DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: A REVIEW OF SUCCESS FACTORS FROM A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE

AbstractIntegrated Natural Resource and Conservation Development (INRCD) Projects is an umbrella term for a variety of Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs), a concept first introduced by the World Wide Fund for Nature in the mid 1980s to target practice-oriented efforts in developing countries; and Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) research and development projects introduced as adaptive management for fisheries, wildlife, forest, and rangeland to target analysis-oriented efforts in developing and developed countries. Both efforts seek to balance economic development and natural resource conservation. This paper reviews the literature over the past four decades in an attempt to determine which planning and execution methods lead to greater success. A thematic analysis revealed three broad areas of importance: community inclusion and income diversification, inadequate training and management, and inability to properly quantify data. A systems design optimization approach for such projects is advocated to support project decision making in these areas of importance.

Homo Sapiens Sapiens Progressive Defaunation During The Great Acceleration: The Cli-Fi Apocalypse Hypothesis

Homo Sapiens Sapiens Progressive Defaunation During The Great Acceleration: The Cli-Fi Apocalypse Hypothesis

Challenges and Opportunities in the Operationalization of the Water-Environment-Energy-Food (WE2F) Nexus: Case Study of the Upper Niger Basin and Inner Niger Delta, West Africa

The ever-increasing demand for water, food, and energy is putting unsustainable pressure on natural resources worldwide, often leading to environmental degradation that, in turn, affect water, food, and energy security. The recognition of the complex interlinkages between multiple sectors has led to the creation of various holistic approaches to environmental decision making such as Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM), Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Virtual Water (VW), Water Footprint (WF) and lately the Food-EnergyEnvironment-Water nexus (WE2F). All these approaches aim to increase resource use efficiency and promote sustainability by increasing the cooperation between traditionally disjoint sectors, and mainly differ by the number and relative weights of the sectors included in their framework. They also suffer from the same face and the same barriers for implementation, some of which may never be fully overcome. The paper discusses the benefits of adopting a WE2F nexus approach in the Upper Niger Basin (UNB) and the Inner Niger Delta (IND), but also the multiple difficulties associated with its practical implementation. IWRM/WE2F initiatives in the UNB/IND such as the BAMGIRE project piloted by Wetlands International and funded by the Dutch Embassy in Mali to secure livelihoods and biodiversity in a changing environment, is taken as an example of partial success in the use of a nexus approach to watershed management. It was shown there are multiple barriers to the operational implementation of the WE2F. However, while a full understanding of all interlinkage between sectors may never be possible, data collection, scientific research and model development can improve our ability to understand the complex system in which we live, and hence take better decisions

The water-energy-food nexus: Is the increasing attention warranted, from either a research or policy perspective?

In recent years, the notion of a nexus involving water, energy, and food has been gaining attention in the scholarly literature and popular press, due partly to the impetus provided by an international conference on the nexus in 2011, and partly to the increasing interest among researchers and public officials in determining the investments and policies needed to achieve and sustain water, energy, and food security. While the notion of such a nexus is compelling to some observers, interactions involving water, energy, and food have been known and studied for many years by scientists and policy analysts. The need for greater integration of research and policy discourse across sectors and regions has been expressed in international meetings since the late 1940s. In addition, the conceptual basis for including water, energy, and food in the “nexus,” to the exclusion of other resources and inputs is not evident. In many cases, the information excluded from studies claiming to implement a nexus approach might be of greater importance to science and policy than the information included in the analysis. In this paper, I review some of the experience gained in earlier attempts to enhance integration and policy coherence, and to promote systems analysis. The challenges observed in implementing programs of integrated natural resources management (INRM) and integrated water resources management (IWRM), in particular, suggest that efforts to implement a water-energy-food nexus approach will not enhance the policy process in all settings. In sum, it is not clear that the increasing attention given to studies claiming to implement a nexus approach is warranted.

The Influence of Institutional Factors on the Adoption of Integrated Natural Resource Management Technologies by Small Scale Farmers in South Western Kenya

The aim of the study was to examine the influence of institutional factors on the adoption of integrated natural resource management technologies by small scale farmers in Ndhiwa division, Kenya. Soil fertility depletion and the corresponding declining agricultural productivity in Kenya’s Ndhiwa division have led to many attempts to develop and popularize Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) technologies that could restore soil fertility. INRM bridges the gap between high external input agriculture and extreme forms of traditional low external input agriculture. The main components of INRM in Ndhiwa division are chemical fertilizer, animal manure, green manure, stover lines and agro forestry. However the adoption of these technologies appears to be low resulting to probably the low production. It is not understood well why farmers who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, either do not adopt or adopt the technologies and then abandon them. However it is acknowledged that soil depletion is a serious and slow process hence the determinants of the adoption of INRM technologies are critical. An ex-post-facto survey design which utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection was used in the study. For quantitative data collection, a sample of 220 small scale farmers selected using systematic random sampling from the small scale farmers in the Division were engaged. For qualitative data, 40 small scale farmers and 37 Key Informants selected using purposive sampling from the division were used. Results of the study indicated that land tenure, access to credit, access to inputs, access to market, mass media exposure and contact with extension were important variables which had positively and significantly influenced adoption of INRM technologies. The overall finding of the study underlined the high importance in strengthening social groups to enhance adoption of INRM technologies. The study will be significant to planners, policy makers, researchers, extension and farmers to build the case for interventions on INRM within the development sector for improved and sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Socio Cultural Determinants of the Adoption of Integrated Natural Resource Management Technologies by Small Scale Farmers in Ndhiwa Division, Kenya

The aim of the study was to examine the influence of socio cultural factors on the adoption of integrated natural resource management technologies by small scale farmers in Ndhiwa division, Kenya. Soil fertility depletion and the corresponding declining agricultural productivity in Kenya’s Ndhiwa division have led to many attempts to develop and popularize Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) technologies that could restore soil fertility. INRM bridges the gap between high external input agriculture and extreme forms of traditional low external input agriculture. The main components of INRM in Ndhiwa division are chemical fertilizer, animal manure, green manure, stover lines and agro forestry. However the adoption of these technologies appears to be low resulting to probably the low production. It is not understood well why farmers who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, either do not adopt or adopt the technologies and then abandon them. However it is acknowledged that soil depletion is a serious and slow process hence the determinants of the adoption of INRM technologies are critical. An ex-post-facto survey design which utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection was used in the study. For quantitative data collection, a sample of 220 small scale farmers selected using systematic random sampling from the small scale farmers in the Division were engaged. For qualitative data, 40 small scale farmers and 37 Key Informants selected using purposive sampling from the division were used. Results of the study indicated that households’ education status, gender, cosmopoliteness, leadership status, cultural beliefs and social norms were important variables which had positively and significantly influenced adoption of INRM technologies. The overall finding of the study underlined the high importance in strengthening social groups to enhance adoption of INRM technologies. The study will be significant to planners, policy makers, researchers, extension and farmers to build the case for interventions on INRM within the development sector for improved and sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Returning Organic Residues to Agricultural Land (RORAL) – Fuelling the Follow-the-Technology approach

Rehabilitating disrupted nutrient cycles through organic residue recycling in agriculture may represent a win–win lever, particularly in urban–agricultural areas, with benefits at both ends of the food chain. It carries the promise of enhancing agriculture’s eco-efficiency and resilience while reducing environmental pressure in urban and downstream areas. After several decades of largely unsatisfactory attempts to promote recycling practices through ad hoc transfer-of-technology approaches, this paper proposes an epistemological base for RORAL research. It represents a shift to a more modest ‘follow-the-technology’ (Douthwaite et al., 2002) paradigm and implies that such research would benefit from being organized as a specific and coherent interdisciplinary research area. The way our research unit deals with these challenges is presented as an example. Starting from site-specific applied analytical research, an agro-environmental ‘plausible promise’ is transformed to a system-level promise before being fed into a facilitated participatory integrated natural resource management (INRM) process. RORAL team members then participate as active stakeholders in this process. Intermediary INRM outcomes can give rise to new applied and basic research needs. A proof of concept case study involving implementation of the RORAL approach in Réunion is presented. This isolated territory with very limited natural resources, particularly arable land, and increasing demographic pressure represents one out of two types of high-potential areas. While showing how RORAL research is guided by site-specific knowledge gaps, this case study highlights how it also allows building up a capital of generic knowledge and skills in parallel.

Bridging Disciplines, Knowledge Systems and Cultures in Pest Management

The success of research in integrated environmental and natural resource management relies on the participation and involvement of different disciplines and stakeholders. This can be difficult to achieve in practice because many initiatives fail to address the underlying social processes required for successful engagement and social learning. We used an action research approach to support a research-based group with a range of disciplinary and stakeholder expertise to critically reflect on their engagement practice and identify lessons around how to collaborate more effectively. This approach is provided here as a guide that can be used to support reflective research practice for engagement in other integration-based initiatives. This paper is set in the context of an integrated wildlife management research case study in New Zealand. We illustrate how multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches can provide a framework for considering the different conversations that need to occur in an integrated research program. We then outline rubrics that list the criteria required in inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborations, along with examples of effective engagement processes that directly support integration through such efforts. Finally, we discuss the implications of these experiences for other researchers and managers seeking to improve engagement and collaboration in integrated science, management and policy initiatives. Our experiences reaffirm the need for those involved in integrative initiatives to attend to the processes of engagement in both formal and informal settings, to provide opportunities for critical reflective practice, and to look for measures of success that acknowledge the importance of effective social process.

Socio Economic Determinants of the Adoption of Integrated Natural Resource Management Technologies by Small Scale Farmers: Evidence from Western Kenya

The main aim of the study was to examine the influence of socio economic factors on the adoption of Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) technologies that could restore soil fertility. INRM bridges the gap between high external input agriculture and extreme forms of traditional low external input agriculture. The main components of INRM in Ndhiwa division are chemical fertilizer, animal manure, green manure, stover lines and agro forestry. However the adoption of these technologies appears to be low resulting to probably the low production. It is not understood well why farmers who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, either do not adopt or adopt the technologies and then abandon. An ex-post-facto survey design which utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection was used in the study. For quantitative data collection, a sample of 220 small scale farmers selected using systematic random sampling from the small scale farmers in the Division were engaged. For qualitative data, 40 small scale farmers and 37 Key Informants selected using purposive sampling from the division were used. Results of the study indicated that households education status, gender, access to credit and membership in social groups were important variables which had positively and significantly influenced adoption of INRM technologies. The overall finding of the study underlined the high importance of institutional support in the areas of extension, strengthening social groups and improving market and credit condition to enhance adoption of INRM technologies. The study will be significant to planners, policy makers, researchers, extension and farmers to build the case for interventions on INRM within the development sector for improved and sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Water Resources Management and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Cameroon

Cameroon is blessed with abundant water resources. Rapid population increase, unplanned urbanisation, intensive industrial and socio-economic development have led to poor and unsustainable management of these resources. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a promising approach in ensuring sustainable management of Cameroon’s water resources. It entails management of water for various purposes and not for a single purpose which therefore involves different stake holders aiming at achieving sustainable water resources management. This paper seeks to evaluate recent efforts to implement in IWRM in Cameroon by examining the institutional framework for IWRM in Cameroon, conditions for the implementation of IWRM and proposes reforms for improving IWRM in Cameroon. The paper concludes that reforms such as public participation at local council levels, recognition of water as both an economic and a social good, putting IWRM within the larger context of Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) and the exploitation of mathematical models within hydrological basins will improve IWRM in Cameroon.

Household-level determinants of adoption of improved natural resources management practices among smallholder farmers in western Kenya

Integrated natural resources management (INRM), of which integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) is a component, offers considerable promise for increasing food production in Kenya. It nonetheless remains unclear whether ISFM/INRM techniques lend themselves easily to adoption by smallholder farmers. Using panel data collected in western Kenya in 1989 and 2002, this study finds that resource constraints limit many farmers’ adoption of ISFM/INRM techniques. The size of the farm owned by a household, the value of its livestock, off-farm income, family labor supply, and the educational attainment and gender of the household head all had a significant positive effect on the likelihood of adoption. Similar factors were found to be statistically significant in discouraging abandonment of the practices under study. There thus seem to exist reinforcing feedback between investments in soil fertility management and household wealth, as measured by asset endowments. Our findings raise important questions as to whether ISFM and related techniques are really affordable to poorer smallholder farmers.

Managing agricultural intensification: The role of international research

Over the next 20–25 yr, global food demand is expected to increase by around 50%, largely due to demand in developing countries. The challenge is to increase production without damaging the natural resource base. Various technologies for integrated natural resource management (INRM) have been developed, but adoption has been poor, for various reasons—technical, socio-economic, and institutional. To date a great deal of past work has focused at the plot and farm level, with little farmer involvement in developing the research agenda. Work needs to be extrapolated to more sites, with greater farmer involvement in the research process, in order to answer the key question: ‘Under what conditions will rural households be encouraged to reinvest in their agroecosystems?’ Encouraging such investment involves several challenges: improving returns from such investments; creating market access for smallholder farmers; improving research–extension–farmer linkages; developing enabling policies on soil, water and biodiversity; integration of livestock–wildlife–crop systems; development of drought mitigation strategies; capacity building; better information flow; and a clearer gender perspective in research and training. A large body of successful INRM research is available from many countries in the West and in Latin America. Unfortunately much of this work is reaching sub-Saharan Africa only now, and its appropriateness to the needs of the African smallholder farmer requires verification. This paper shares some of the experiences of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) in Africa, particularly the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Reference is made to some specific technologies and some limited successes with small-scale farmers in Africa.

INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC GOODS THROUGH INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT RESEARCH IN CGIAR PARTNERSHIPS

The CGIAR System conducts research to produce international public goods (IPG) that are of wide applicability, creating a scientific base which speeds and broadens local adaptive development. Integrated natural resources management (INRM) research is sometimes seen to be very location specific and consequently does not lend itself readily to the production of IPGs. In this paper we analyse ways in which strategic approaches to INRM research can have broad international applicability and serve as useful foundations for the development of locally adapted technologies. The paper describes the evolution of the IPG concept within the CGIAR and elaborates on five major types of IPGs that have been generated from a varied set of recent INRM research efforts. CGIAR networks have both strengths and weaknesses in INRM research and application, with enormous differences in relative research and development capacities, responsibilities and data access of its partners, making programme process evolution critical to acceptance and participation. Many of the lessons learnt regarding challenges and corresponding IPG research approaches are relevant to designing and managing future multi-scale, multi-locational, co-ordinated INRM programmes involving broad-based partnerships to address complex environmental and livelihood problems for development.

How a Student Views the Field

I t was the Colorado Section meeting in 2004 when the presiding president Rob Alexander told the members that one of his goals during his term was to tie bonds between the student chapter and the section. He said this was because everything is more exciting for us when the students are involved. As the acting president of the Range Ecology Club at Colorado State University, thus the head of the student chapter at the time, I thought to myself, can I help to develop and encourage this bond? Then it hit me. I should speak to the members at the next section meeting. During the next break, I found Rob Alexander, who was chatting with Roy Roath, the next president, and other members of the group, and introduced myself and suggested (perhaps foolishly) that I could speak at the next meeting if they thought it would be interesting. About 6 months later, Roy Roath, who was in charge of organizing the meeting for 2005, approached me to say that he had developed the speakers list for the meeting and was counting on me to speak. I thought to myself, Surely he is not holding me to an off comment I made nearly 6 months ago, but he was. So that is how it came that I would be speaking at the Colorado Section's 2005 meeting. Approximately 1 week before the meeting I was starting to worry, I had spent considerable time thinking about my speech and still had no direction. The theme of the meeting was Past, Present, and Future and I was there to represent the future. My speech was titled Preparing for a Career: How a College Student Views the Field in the program for the meeti g which had been distributed a month earlier. It was too late to back out now. I needed to focus and develop something to talk about. Again, I was hit with a moment of clarity, Jesse, I said to myself, have heard all of your professors say 'you don't know where you are going, unless you know where you have been.' I decided that I would tell my story of how I got into the field. I grew up in a quaint little town of nearly 200,000 about 25 miles straight west of America's third largest metropolis, Chicago. Illinois is a state with a diminishing 0.01% of the historic rangelands, the tall-grass prairie. However, I was drawn to them in high school when I had taken a class entitled Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM). This class taught basic ecological principles and processes but most importantly to me at the time it included many field trips with opportunities to leave school. On one of our field trips, we were taken to Treehaven, a field campus for natural resource students for University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. On this trip I was exposed to multiple ecosystems and ecological processes. This exposure fueled my ever-growing interest in natural resources; so much so, that after this trip that I had decided that I would study natural resources in college. The rest of that year in high school was spent looking at colleges and spending free time in the tall-grass prairie near my house. The prairie was located at Fermilab National Laboratory, an underground particle accelerator. They had a very intensive management plan and had even returned the native grazer of buffalo to their land. This land had truly drawn my interest. I really wanted to know how and why it worked as it did. At the same time the land was drawing my curiosity, my teacher from INRM class had suggested Colorado State

Impact pathway evaluation of an integrated Striga hermonthica control project in Northern Nigeria

This paper evaluates a project that developed and introduced integrated Striga control (ISC) in Northern Nigeria. Adoption of ISC increased from 44 participating farmers in four pilot areas to more than 500 farmers in 16 villages and hamlets in three seasons. On average, farmers adopted 3.25 different Striga control options from a basket of six “best bets”. Resource-poor and -medium farmers were more likely to adopt than resource-rich ones. Adopting farmers enjoyed livelihood improvements, largely through selling ISC soybean. Women in most adopting households benefited through selling food products based on soybean. Adoption of ISC can be attributed to four factors: (1) farmer-field-school-type training that explained how the technologies worked; (2) incorporation of at least one technology in the ISC package that gave quick benefits to sustain farmer interest in adopting and learning other components whose effects took longer to become evident; (3) allowance for farmer experimentation and adaptation to local conditions; and, (4) use of a monitoring and evaluation component that identified and incorporated farmer modifications to continually improve the ISC package. These principles are likely to be valid for research and extension approaches for similar integrated natural resource management (INRM). Impact pathway evaluation methodology used for the evaluation helped give the project a greater impact focus; helped design and reporting of the evaluation; and, by identifying early adoption pathways, has provided a firm basis for any future ex post impact assessment of ISC in Northern Nigeria.

Landscape-scale Approaches for Integrated Natural Resource Management in Tropical Forest Landscapes

Frost, P., B. Campbell, G. Medina, and L. Usongo. 2006. Landscape-scale approaches for integrated natural resource management in tropical forest landscapes. Ecology and Society 11(2): 30. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01932-110230

El cultivo de tilapia (Oreochromis spp) en la rentabilidad de seis agroecosistemas en el estado de Veracruz

Six agroecosystems (AES) with an aquaculture component were studied in the State of Veracruz, Mexico. For each particular agroecosystem activity a Modified Policy Analysis Matrix was applied to obtain the Net Income and the WINRM (Wetlands Integrated Natural Resources Management) model was used to estimate the Benefit/Cost ratio (B/C) and the break even point for aquaculture in each agroecosystem. These analyses took into account two different criteria: 1) Including land rent and labor as costs, and 2) Excluding land rent and family labor from the analysis. Results show that depending of the type of producer, certain specific agroecosystems are able to incorporate profitably tilapia production systems. B/C ratio and net profits increase as producer type rises, in accordance with the following scale: Beginner, Artisan, Intermediate and Business.

Integrating “livelihoods” into integrated water resources management: taking the integration paradigm to its logical next step for developing countries

This paper examines the weaknesses in the current understanding of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) from the perspective of livelihoods. Empowering poor people, reducing poverty, improving livelihoods, and promoting economic growth ought to be the basic objectives of IWRM. But as currently understood and used, IWRM often tends to focus on second-generation issues such as cost recovery, reallocation of water to “higher value” uses, and environmental conservation. This paper argues that IWRM needs to be placed in the broader context of both modern Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) and the livelihoods approach, which together take a holistic and people-centered approach. The paper concludes with an alternative definition of IWRM as involving the promotion of human welfare, especially the reduction of poverty, encouragement of better livelihoods and balanced economic growth through effective democratic development and management of water and other natural resources in an integrated multilevel framework that is as equitable, sustainable, and transparent as possible, and conserves vital ecosystems. Transparent user-friendly information and models for assisting decision making are essential features of livelihood-oriented IWRM.