Livelihoods Of Local Farmers Research Articles

The effects of habitat and climate on tick abundance and diversity on a game reserve in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

ABSTRACT The livelihoods of local farmers and game ranchers in Africa – and the communities these businesses support – are threatened by tick-borne diseases that kill and weaken livestock. Understanding the local ecology of ticks may inform cost-effective and sustainable techniques for controlling tick populations. Our objective was to describe differences in tick abundance, species richness, and community structure in three different habitats from June-July 2022 on a game reserve in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Ticks were sampled using the drag method, in 54 30 m × 5 m transects evenly distributed across bushveld, long grass, and short grass habitats. Total tick abundance and species richness were significantly greater in long grass than in bushveld and short grass. Although there were no significant differences among the habitats in Simpson’s diversity, the composition of the communities did vary significantly, with the relative abundances of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and R. evertsi evertsi peaking in long grass, Amblyomma hebraeum peaking in bushveld, and R. decoloratus peaking in short grass. Differences in habitat suitability for ticks and habitat use by ungulate hosts may explain the significant effect of habitat on tick abundance, species richness, and community structure.

Achieving Sustainable Earth Futures in the Anthropocene by Including Local Communities in Critical Zone Science

AbstractCritical Zone Science (CZS) explores the deep evolution of landscapes from the base of the groundwater or the saprolite‐rock interface to the top of vegetation, the zone that supports all terrestrial life. Here we propose a framework for CZS to evolve further as a discipline, building on 1st generation CZOs in natural systems and 2nd generation CZOs in human‐modified systems, to incorporate human behaviour for more holistic understanding in a 3rd generation of CZOs. This concept was tested in the China‐UK CZO programme (2016–2020) that established four CZOs across China on different lithologies. Beyond conventional CZO insights into soil resources, biogeochemical cycling and hydrology across scales, surveys of farmers and local government officials led to insights into human‐environment interactions and key pressures affecting the socio‐economic livelihoods of local farmers. These learnings combined with the CZS data identified knowledge exchange (KE) opportunities to unravel diverse factors within the Land‐Water‐Food Nexus, that could directly improve local livelihoods and environmental conditions, such as reduction in fertilizer use, contributing toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental policies. Through two‐way local KE, the local cultural context and socio‐economic considerations were more readily apparent alongside the environmental rationale for policy and local action to improve the sustainability of farming practices. Seeking solutions to understand and remediate CZ degradation caused by human‐decision making requires the co‐design of CZS that foregrounds human behavior and the opinions of those living in human modified CZOs. We show how a new transdisciplinary CZO approach for sustainable Earth futures can improve alignment of research with the practical needs of communities in stressed environments and their governments, supporting social‐ecological and planetary health research agendas and improving capacity to achieve SDGs.

Assessment on land use changes and livelihood transition under the hydropower dam construction in Paunglaung Township, Southern Shan Highlands, Myanmar

AbstractWe examined agricultural land use changes and their impacts on the local livelihoods of upstream farmers after the Paunglaung hydropower dam construction in Myanmar. Landsat and GeoEye images, acquired in 2011 and 2018, were used to detect agricultural land use changes. A marked decrease in agricultural land (5.77% of farmland and 9.64% of swidden) was observed, whereas orchards and plantations were introduced as new farming practices. Using the household survey, the income strategies were categorized by different wealth groups, and the socioeconomic condition was compared among the groups. We also compared the annual household income before and after dam construction. A significant change in income strategies after the dam construction were observed in low‐income households, but not in medium and high‐income households. Local people engaged in diversified livelihood strategies after the dam construction, mainly in relocated villages. Besides, farmland lost due to dam construction caused the significant insufficiency of rice self‐consumption and consequently resulted in greater dependency on the market of rice and their products. This study highlighted land use changes due to dam construction and its impacts on the livelihood of local farmers, contributing to planning the land use and livelihood strategies for affected farmers to ensure their livelihood security.

Land use change in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: New evidence from remote sensing

This paper presents the first attempt to capture a comprehensive spatial view of land use change in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) for a long period, i.e., from 2000 to 2020. It is aimed at monitoring holistically the land use change and flooding situation in the region, addressing the reasons for land use change, and assessing the impacts of land use change on hydraulic aspects and farmer livelihoods during the last 21 years. MODIS products, in particular, are used to study the dynamics of land use and floods after demonstrating high validation with statistical data and radar satellites, with R2 = 0.96 and R2 ≥ 0.97 for land use and flood maps, respectively. The results show that rice cultivation is the most dominant land use type, accounting for 40% to 46% of the delta area, while aquaculture accounts for 10% to 22%, respectively. The total rice cultivation area increased from 3764 thousand hectares (thous. ha) in 2001 to 4343 thous. ha in 2015 based on the intensive development of triple rice cropping in the upper zone, then decreased to 3963 thous. ha in 2020. In contrast, aquaculture areas are farmed mainly in the coastal area and remained relatively steady, increasing slightly from 619 thous. ha in 2001 to 856 thous. ha in 2020. The massive construction of dikes for triple rice cropping in the upper zone appears to cause a significant impact on the annual flooding regime. Land use policies have influenced the changes in land use patterns, flooding situations, and the livelihoods of local farmers.

Sustainability Implications of Stakeholders’ Perspectives in Agroforestry Management in Manyu Division, South West Region Cameroon.

Agroforestry which focuses on the domestication and cultivation of Non-Traditional Forest Products (NTFP) has important sustainability implications for both livelihoods. Brundtland Report and subsequent international and regional instruments, sustainable development as epitomized in Agenda 2030 of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) has become the cornerstone of developmentalism. This study seeks to examine the interplay of sustainability from a stakeholders’ perspective. The findings of this qualitative method which was conducted in 11 villages in Manyu Division of the South West Region revealed that there was a plethora of stakeholders involved in the domain of agroforestry in the study area. These stakeholders were composed of state institutions (Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife-MINFOF, Program for Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the South West Region-PSMNR-SWR), international organisations (World Agroforestry Center-ICRAF, the World Wildlife Fund-WWF) and local community based institutions (EFOKHOYU), among others. Agroforestry related programmes implemented by these stakeholders ranged from the creation of training centers, allocation of funds and seedlings to farmers as well as the dissemination of knowledge on land conservation and the development of partnerships among farming communities. The findings revealed that this could be felt at the level of household food security with increased cultivation of species such as Irvingia gabonensis and Irvingia wombulu by nearly 62%. Such high rates of domestication and commercialisation of these species implied that the livelihoods of local farmers were assured without endangering over-exploitation of scarce forest resources. In conclusion, some challenges such as issues related with accessibility, high cost associated with domestication among others complicate the activities of stakeholders in Manyu Division. That notwithstanding, the study recommends that tailor made policy interventions should be deployed to address the challenges raised.

Livelihood Impacts of Plantation Forests on Farmers in the Greater Mekong Subregion: A Systematic Review of Plantation Forest Models

Background and Objectives: Plantation forests remain a highly contested element of rural development. Successive reviews of large-scale plantations established under land concessions identify predominantly negative impacts on local farmers’ livelihoods. Although concession models of plantation development have been common in the global South, other models characterised by different forms of land tenure, labour arrangements, and plantation design have also emerged. The impacts of these models on the livelihoods of local farmers are likely to be more varied. This paper presents the results of a systematic review on the impacts of different models of plantation forests on the livelihoods of local farmers in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. Materials and Methods: Seventy-two of more than 1000 publications were identified as meeting review criteria and were assessed systematically to identify how plantation forests impacted on the natural, financial, human, physical, and social assets of proximate rural communities. Plantation models included: state forest plantations; land and land-sharing concessions; land purchase programs; and “enrolled”, contracted, and independent smallholders. Results: The results confirm those of earlier studies that land concessions delivered lasting livelihoods benefits only to few communities. A small number of positive examples among these cases demonstrate, however, that these plantation models are not necessarily detrimental to local livelihoods. Other plantation forest models, based on contract farming, land purchase, and independent smallholders have generally brought economic benefits to local people, although differentially. Research Highlights and Conclusions: Overall, this review suggests that plantation forests are not inherently positive or negative for local livelihoods, and all plantation models have the potential to contribute positively to local livelihoods. Future research on this topic needs to adopt more holistic livelihoods perspectives.

Regions and Their Typical Paradigms for Soil and Water Conservation in China

China is experiencing conflicts between its large population and scarce arable land, and between a demand for high productivity and the severe soil erosion of arable land. Since 1949, China has committed to soil and water conservation (SWC), for which eight regions and 41 subregions have been developed to improve the environment and increase land productivity. To obtain information from the regional planning and strategies for SWC and to explore whether SWC practices simultaneously contribute to soil conservation, ecosystem functioning, and the livelihoods of local farmers, and to summarize the successful experiences of various SWC paradigms with distinct characteristics and mechanisms of soil erosion, this paper systematically presents seven SWC regions (excluding the Tibetan Plateau region) and 14 typical SWC paradigms, focusing on erosion mechanisms and the key challenges or issues in the seven regions as well as on the core problems, main objectives, key technologies, and the performance of the 14 typical paradigms. In summary, the 14 typical SWC paradigms successfully prevent and control local soil erosion, and have largely enhanced, or at least do not harm, the livelihoods of local farmers. However, there remain many challenges and issues on SWC and socioeconomic development that need to be addressed in the seven SWC regions. China, thus, still has a long way to go in successfully gaining the win-win objective of SWC and human aspects of development.

Formulating Popular Policies for Peat Restoration Based on Livelihoods of Local Farmers

Important peatland issues developed were how to restore peatlands and followed by increasing rural livelihoods. This research aimed to analyze how peatlands can be utilized to alleviate poverty? and how to integrate peatland restoration with poverty alleviation. This research has been conducted in peatlands of OKI district, South Sumatra Indonesia in 2017. Data about bio geophysical aspects of peatlands, social, economic and political institutions of farmers were surveyed in the fields, performed in qualitative and quantitative approach, and analyzed in forms of tables and descriptions. Important themes have been discussed in formulating popular policies for peat restoration based on livelihoods of local farmers, among others poor groups; characteristics of farmers from the socio-political aspect; concept of peatland restoration and other lessons-learnt; compatibility of peat-based poverty alleviation; and need to improve policy making. The chronic poor sites tend to overlap with peatland degradation; it is more important to cultivate peatlands to prevent farmers from falling into deeper poverty than to reduce farmers out of poverty, and the intrinsic quality of peatlands and their contents tends to conflict with poverty alleviation goals, but there are some possible trends to minimize peatlands degradation and to alleviate poverty simultaneously. The best approach is to apply the 'win-lose' or 'lose-win' approach, even though we are not able to avoid peatland degradation at a zero level, but at least it can be inhibited. Cooperation between investors and farmers in managing peatlands is needed, so that the peatland resources are not completely degraded.

A socio-ecological model of the Opuntia scrublands in the Peruvian Andes

Opuntia scrublands are important socio-ecological systems (SESs) in the Andean area. Opuntia provides a variety of products employed in the human diet and in animal feed, as well as cochineal insects, a highly valued source of dyes. Land clearance on the scrublands promotes changes in the use of the land and the development of new economic activities. In this article, we describe the development a numerical model, built as a five submodel interactive set under Stella® v9.1.4, to understand the dynamics of this SES in the Andean area of Ayacucho-Peru in terms of its vegetation, scrubland habilitation, cochineal collection, fruit harvest and livestock keeping. Ecological components (cochineal insects and vegetation) are modeled considering system's carrying capacities; social components (fruit, livestock and land) incorporate economic (investments, costs and benefits) and social (participation, association) parameters and processes. The model highlights the role of social capital on land clearance and the effect of the latter on the livelihoods of local farmers.

Social-ecological Impact Evaluation on Eco-environmental Policies Associated Western China Development

The ecological and social effects of three major eco-environment policies associated with Western China Development, i.e., Program of Returning Cultivated Lands into Forest and Grassland (RCLFG), Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP) and Grassland Ban Program (GBP) were evaluated by collecting census data and referring the literatures in this study. The results indicate that these policies have greatly improved eco-environment in western China through facilitating structural adjustment of industries in the rural regions and exerting great impacts on the livelihoods of local farmers. In order to maintain the sustainable development of eco-environment in Western China, it was suggested that long-term subsidy policy should be created. The eco-policies need to be amended according to the problems found in practices to keep the eco-policies going efficiently and smoothly.

Quantification of the Impact of Land-Use Changes on Ecosystem Services: A Case Study in Pingbian County, China

Pingbian Miao Autonomous County is one of the poorest rural areas in China. Land-use changes, mainly driven by agricultural expansion and deforestation, may significantly impact ecosystem services and functions, but such effects are difficult to quantify. In the present study, Landsat image data were combined with the published coefficients about the world and China ecosystem to quantify land-use and ecosystem service changes in the mountainous area. A sensitivity analysis was employed to determine the effect of manipulating these coefficients on the estimated values. Our results show that during the past decades (from 1973 to 2004) forests and grasslands were converted into shrubland and cropland, respectively, resulting in a continuous decrease in ecosystem service (from 124.5 US$ x 10(6) in 1973 to 100.4 US$ x 10(6) in 2004). We found that the decrease of mixed forest in the study area was the largest contributor (i.e., 25.4 US$ x 10(6)) to the decline of the ecosystem service. Therefore we propose that future land-use policy should pay more attention to the crucial ecosystem functions of these forests (including tropical forest), and that it is necessary to balance the relationship between the livelihood of local farmers and environmental protection in order to maintain a healthy and stable ecosystem.

Land cover changes based on plant successions: Deforestation, rehabilitation and degeneration of forest in the upper Dadu River watershed

To link regional land use/cover changes with environmental effects, land cover changes are required to reflect vegetation successions, whereas the land cover classification systems commonly used nowadays cannot serve this purpose. In this paper, a new land cover classification system is established in which land covers are classified by the vegetation succes-sions, taking Zamtang County, Barkam County and Jinchuan County in the upper Dadu River watershed as a study area. Using multi-temporal remote sensing images, the land cover data of 1967, 1986 and 2000 are obtained by means of integration of unsupervised classification and visual interpretation methods. The database facilitates the study of land use/cover changes, en-vironmental effects and ecological construction. Land cover changes reflect the main ecological processes in the upper Dadu River watershed. The landscape composed mainly of grasslands, wildwoods and alpine scrubs in 1967 was changed to that of grasslands, secondary forests, al-pine scrubs, fragmentary wildwoods, artificial forests, secondary scrubs in 2000, meanwhile, the landscape got more fragmentized. The total area of the forests decreased by 9.43%. Study results have shown the process of restoration of logged areas in forest centers. From 1967 to 2000, only 6.86 percents of logged areas were converted to shrubs, meadows or crop-lands, and the rest were converted into artificial forests or secondary forests. So the ecological shelter functions will be restored, stage by stage. Firewood collection, charcoal production and overgrazing are the three major triggers for the extensive degradation of alpine oak forests, Sa-bina tibetica forests and meadows. The arid valley grasslands expanded too. The degradation of vegetation in the southern slopes impairs ecological shelter functions and affects livelihood of local residents, so it is essential to find effective measures for ecological restoration and recon-struction. Field investigations have found that the current measures have not concerned with how to keep the livelihood of local farmers and herders. The most important measure for ecological protection and restoration is to help the farmers and herders to raise the living standard, which means that they will never need to rely only on the colonizing of croplands, the logging of forests and the grazing of livestock to make a living.