Plot Ownership Research Articles

Gender Intra-Household Dynamics Comparison of Paddy Profitability Due to the Adoption of Improved Agriculture Technology

To compare gender intra-household dynamics of paddy profitability due to the adoption of improved agriculture technology. The study used secondary information gathered from 1,184 Tanzanian households in 2020. The gross margin return was used, and a two-sample t-test with equal variance was used to compare profitability between males and females with regard to the intra-household dynamics. The findings revealed that males are dominant in the intra-household dynamics. There was a significant difference in profit between Male (M = [-80009.6], SD = [719178.8]) and Female (M = [-120980.8], SD = [371716.2]); t(7937) = [2.9561], p = [0.0031] for decision on input use. In farm plot ownership there was a significant difference in profit between Male (M = [-79309.96], SD = [717650.8]) and Female (M = [-134222.8], SD = [179688.6]); t(7951) = [3.7523], p = [0.0031] and For the role in land preparation there was a significant difference in profit between Male (M = -75546.25], SD = [7445178]) and female (M = [122535.2], SD = [358831.1]); t(7937) = [3.4394], p = [0.0006].In addition, the study has found that smallholder farmers, in general, are making a loss in production, although females are making higher losses compared to males. Farmers should use improved agricultural technology in package thus combining technology such as use of improved seeds, fertilizers, herbicide, labor saving machine and irrigation. Also empower female paddy producers by offering agricultural credits to smallholder farmers with favorable terms such that farmers can adopt improved agricultural technologies that will improve their rationality and, hence, the economic well-being of their households.

Participatory mapping of irrigation schemes in Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and their value for multi-level learning

This paper analyses the capacity of participatory mapping as a multi-level learning process to identify and overcome current barriers to productivity within small-scale irrigation schemes. The analysis is based on thirteen smallholder irrigation schemes in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, where farmers, project officers and other key stakeholders participated in informal mapping teams to map the schemes. Critically, participatory mapping translated problems generally known by stakeholders into problems that were publicly known, making their resolution a shared responsibility. Hence, problems identified at both the scheme and plot levels led to immediate responses by the farmers, irrigator organizations, and government departments, boosting farmers’ agency and confidence and renewing their sense of scheme and plot ownership. It is important that irrigation agencies prioritize participatory processes and the use of informal networks to improve farmers’ understanding of their resource and management challenges and to build their sense of ownership and responsibility for effective management of irrigation schemes.

Socioeconomic Factors Influencing Uptake of Coffee Production Recommended Practices in Kichwamba and Kirugu Sub-Counties Rubirizi District, Uganda

The study was on socioeconomic factors influencing the uptake of coffee production recommended practices in the Kichwamba and Kirugu Sub-counties of the Rubirizi district and was conducted in February 2021. Objectives were to identify the coffee production systems and practices used, identify the socioeconomic challenges associated with the uptake of recommended practices for coffee production, and identify the policy interventions to address the challenges associated with the use of recommended coffee practices. Farmers continue to register low coffee yields hence affecting their livelihoods and incomes and achieving maximum coffee production requires that farmers apply recommended practices since the quantity and quality of the crop rely on the practices used. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using simple random sampling and a total of 376 coffee farmers were sampled. Results indicated that Arabica coffee commonly grown has two major systems intercropping and mono-cropping. The coffee-recommended practices used were weeds control (23.7%), shading (21.5%), pruning (15.5%), fertiliser application (14.1%), pest and disease management (12.2%), water drainage management (6.6%), transplanting (4.0%), and seedbed preparation (2.7%). Statistically significant socioeconomic factors affecting the uptake of recommended practices for coffee were age [p=0.014], education level [p=0.002], labour [p=0.005], Farm size [p=0.001], farming experience [p=0.031], gender [p=0.031], land slope [p=0.048], un-accessibility to credit services [p=0.032], and plot ownership [p=0.049]. Policy interventions were farmer capacity building (35.1%), strengthening agricultural extension (23.7%), credit extension to the farmers (15.7%), re-visiting land reform policies (13.6%), and group formation (11.9%). The study concluded that coffee in the study area was grown under two production systems; intercropping and mono-cropping; the major coffee recommended practices used were; seedbed management, transplanting, pruning, shading, fertiliser application, weeds control, pest and disease management, and water drainage management. Socioeconomic factors like Education level, shortage of labour, farm size, experience in farming, gender, the slope of the land, un-accessibility of credit services, farmer age and plot ownership type were significant socioeconomic factors affecting uptake of recommended practices. Suggested policy interventions were re-visiting land reform policies, credit extension, capacity building, strengthening agricultural extension, and farmer group formation. More education and training for farmers, revisiting land policies, groups, associations and cooperative formation, and credit services extension are recommended.

Pocket parks in Łódź as an element of improving urban resilence in the city centre

Urban resilience is one of the main challenges for the European cities, especially in densely built-up central areas. Crucial problems occurring in urbanized areas include air pollution, environmental degradation, insufficient number of recreational areas, flooding, and heavy heat. Greenery is one of the factors that can contribute to the improvement of the urban resilience. City centres are especially exposed to the problem of inadequate number of natural areas. In order to improve living conditions in cities, green infrastructure solutions, such as pocket parks, are introduced more and more frequently. They improve the microclimate, provide comfort, and improve the aesthetics of the place. Parks that form a spatially coherent network turn out to be the most valuable for intensively developed city structures. Methods used in the study include literature research, secondary data analysis, area inventory, archival study analysis and plot ownership analysis. The studied area borders with four city parks, however, there is not enough public green space fulfilling recreational functions. The particular issue refers to how to ensure the adequate amount of greenery in densely built-up areas. The aim of the research is to present the possibility of introducing greenery in densely built-up districts of Lodz. The project of the pocket parks network for the analysed area was presented and method of green infrastructure implementation proposed.

Factors Affecting Adoption and Intensity of Use of Tef-Acacia decurrens-Charcoal Production Agroforestry System in Northwestern Ethiopia

The tef-Acacia decurrens-charcoal production agroforestry system (TACPA system) is a conventionally and uniquely adopted indigenous potential climate-smart agricultural technology (CSAT) in northwest Ethiopia. This study investigates factors determining farmers’ adoption and intensity of use of the TACPA system using a descriptive statistic and a double-hurdle model. A total of 326 farming household heads were selected using multistage random sampling from two purposively chosen provinces. The descriptive statistics showed that 64.42% of the local farmers adopted the TACPA system, and the area covered by the adopter was 0.38 ha. Empirical estimates of the first hurdle revealed that credit, plot ownership, association, primary road distance, asset, farming experience, labor, family size, livestock, tenure, and marginal land influenced the adoption of the TACPA system. On the other hand, estimates of the second hurdle showed that the intensity of use of the TACPA system was determined by age, plot ownership, nativity, primary road distance use, livestock, tenure, secondary road distance, and experience. The complementarity between the adoption of the TACPA system and its intensity of use suggests the necessity of joint socio-economic policies to meet the priority needs of smallholder farmers of the study area and to disseminate the innovation to other parts of Africa with similar environmental conditions.

Gender differences on the choices of a portfolio of climate change adaptation strategies in Ethiopia

Gender-based intra-household resource distributions constitute an important role in technology adoption-related decisions. Using a non-unitary household model and fitting an empirical adoption model for men and women individually and jointly, we examine how gender-based ownership, management and control of resources are correlated with adoptions of a portfolio of climate change adaptation strategies. Our analysis is based on recent household survey data with detailed household plot-level information about adaptation strategies, plot ownership, farm management decisions, and the right to control outputs from the plots among spouses within the household. The observed patterns of women’s ownership, management and economic rights of land suggest that all are important aspects of women’s bargaining power. We found compelling evidence regarding the overlapping effects of the different gender-linked-land-based rights on the adoption of a portfolio of adaptation strategies. The empirical findings emphasize the importance of incorporating gender-based intra-household interactions and joint resource ownership and decision making in climate change adaptation.

Hierarchical Modelling of Small-Scale Irrigation: Constraints and Opportunities for Adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa

Irrigation has significant potential to enhance productivity, resilience to climatic risks and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the focus has historically been on large-scale dam-based schemes, farmer-managed small-scale irrigation (SSI) has gained increased attention in recent years. Using data from Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana, we first examine patterns of adoption of different SSI technologies. Next, we employ hierarchical modelling to examine which variables are associated with observed adoption patterns and cluster effects that explain variation in irrigation adoption. We document significant cross-country variation in adoption patterns and find a positive association between plot-level use of SSI and the intensity of agricultural labor and inorganic fertilizers applied on the plot. Community-level intra-cluster correlation (ICC) is the highest in Tanzania, where gravity-fed irrigation is most common while farm-level ICC is the highest in Ethiopia where motorized technologies are more common. These results suggest the need for localized investments to ease locale-specific potential constraints. For example, easing possible liquidity constraints to acquiring motorized technologies can be more effective in Ethiopia while the construction of dams and improved conveyance systems, as well as the strengthening of community-based irrigation management (e.g., through Water User Associations (WUAs)) can be more effective in Tanzania. Further research is needed to understand pathways for selected plot-level characteristics that affect use of SSI including status of plot ownership and the gender of the plot manager.

THE THE SWAPPING APPROACH IN THE COURSE OF LAND CONSOLIDATION: CASE STUDY OF UKRAINE

The paper is concerned with the issues of the voluntary land consolidation using the exchange method at land relations reforming. The objective of the article is the substantiation of the exchange method aiming at the large and small land owners (land users) land tenure optimization and the formation of approaches with the help of which the mutual alignment of their interests can be achieved. Land plot ownership and tenure rights exchange by the relative value has been substantiated. It is suggested to define the relative value based on the principle of juxtaposition of land plots by their qualitative, spatial and technological characteristics. The land plots exchange modelling has been improved according to the relative value application and due to the existing land plots boundaries retaining at the exchange. The effectiveness of the suggested land plots exchange method has been demonstrated at the land tenure optimization of an agricultural enterprise and some households in Kyiv Region. Alternative land consolidation projects based on the land plots exchange have been developed, the results of which demonstrate the advantages of the voluntary land consolidation based on the suggested methodology.

FOOD CROP PRODUCTIVITY IN NIGERIA: AN ESTIMATION OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY AND TECHNOLOGICAL GAP RATIO

<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study analyzed the determinants of food crop productivity in Nigeria. <strong>Objectives: </strong>To describe the socio-economic characteristics of the food crop farmers, estimate the meta-frontier production and compare the technological gap ratio of the various food crop farmers, and then analyzed the determinants of productivity of food crop farmers in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. <strong>Methodology: </strong>General Household Survey –Panel Wave 2 from National Bureau of Statistics Abuja, Nigeria was used for this study, and a total of 1,678 food crop farmers were randomly selected from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. The study employed the use of descriptive statistics, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and Multiple linear regression. <strong>Results: </strong>Most (34.3%) of the farmers were aged between 41-50 years with modal family size of 6 - 10 members. The illiteracy level was high (62.2%) among the various food crop farmers as they had no formal education. The mean technical efficiency and mean Technological Gap Ratios (TGRs) of the food crop farmers were 0.563 and 0.716 respectively. The difference in the mean technical efficiency and meta-production model of food crop farmers showed a huge productivity potential ratio in the various zones of the country. Age (t = 2.99, P= 0.06), plot size square (t = 4.40, P= 0.00), plot ownership (t =2.59, P= 0.01) and access to credit (t = -2.13, P= 0.033) do significantly influence the productivity of the food crop farmers, and were the determinants of food crop productivity in Nigeria. <strong>Implications: </strong>There is the need to enhance capacity of the food crop enterprises to promote food security and economic growth in Nigeria. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Given the level of technology available, food crop farmers produce lower than the country potential output.</p>

Pro-poor land transfers in the presence of landslides: New insights on norms in land markets

We investigate the presence of redistributive attitudes on the supply side of land markets in a mountainous area in Western Uganda. We test whether observed preferences can be explained with an economic model on informal insurance within social networks or whether alternative explanations, such as normative drivers, are needed. To do so, we first collected detailed data on plot ownership, plot location and exposure to landslides among 401 farmers in Western Uganda. Then a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted on the hypothetical sales of these plots in order to elicit preferences for specific buyer characteristics among respondents. We find that people prefer to sell their plots to family members and are therefore ready to forego some revenue from the sale. Moreover, farmers prefer to sell their land to poorer buyers, but only as long as the plots are not susceptible to landslides. When the plots are susceptible to landslides no preference is shown to sell plots to less wealthy buyers. Our results add to the literature on land markets and norms in the presence of environmental risks by illustrating that attitudes in favour of redistribution and disaster risk reduction cannot be explained by risk pooling and informal insurance considerations alone. Our study illustrates the potential of DCE to measure how redistributive preference might influence decisions during market transactions. This leads to some important recommendations for policies on land markets and disaster risk reduction.

Adoption of interrelated sustainable agricultural practices among smallholder farmers in Ghana

Serious attention should be given to the low adoption rates of what appears to be relatively simple sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) that have the potential to protect the environment, enrich soil nutrients, restrict the depletion of essential ecosystem resources and increase farm productivity. Using primary data from 320 sampled agricultural households in two districts of Northern Ghana, multivariate probit (MVP) and zero-truncated Poisson models were applied to identify the determinants of SAP adoption and adoption intensity, respectively. From the MVP analysis, the study found that some SAP components are complementary, while others are substitutes. Furthermore, the results of the MVP regression indicate that non-farm income, livestock ownership, pest and disease prevalence, farmers' experience of erosion, farmers’ perception of poor soil fertility, participation in field demonstration, membership of saving groups, access to agricultural credit, plot ownership, and distance to the agricultural input market are important determinants of adoption of SAP. With zero-truncated Poisson, the study found that factors such as farm size, participation in field demonstration, ownership of livestock and access to agricultural credit significantly influenced the intensity of SAP adoption. The study therefore recommended that policies should target institutional and plot-specific characteristics to improve and intensify the adoption of SAPs as they condition the need for adoption and the extent of adoption.

Community Gardening as a Way to Build Cross-Cultural Community Resilience in Intersectionally Diverse Gardeners: Community-Based Participatory Research and Campus-Community-Partnered Proposal.

BackgroundCommunity-based agriculture has been found to decrease food insecurity and alleviate health inequities. Furthermore, it provides a sense of ownership, resources to help integrate new communities, and a space to nurture existing cultural identities for intersectionally diverse gardeners. This sense of belonging in connection with access to growing plots has been linked to psychological well-being and resilience. However, little is known about how the psychosocial benefits of plot ownership affect resilience and which aspects of this resilience are salient.ObjectiveThis community-based participatory research (CBPR) project will examine the role of community gardens in decreasing food insecurity and facilitating various forms of resilience in food-insecure groups in Rochester, Minnesota. Since participation in community gardens nurtures various forms of resilience along individual, group, and community dimensions, our research seeks to understand how dimensions of resilience vary along intersectional lines. In addition to mapping the psychosocial benefits linked to plot ownership, we find that examining which forms of resilience are fostered in community-based agricultural projects addresses an important gap in the academic literature. This can help us propose policy-level practices that reduce health inequities connected to food and nutrition at the local level.MethodsUsing a mixed methods approach, this ongoing community-campus partnership will examine the experiences of current and new plot owners. As a CBPR project, our data collection plan, from design to dissemination, incorporates the intellectual and creative labor of the individuals representing members of the campus community (ie, college students and faculty members engaged in other citizen science projects hosted by the garden), community growers, individuals involved in the community garden’s board, and representatives of various organizational bodies. Data collection activities will consist of surveys, in-depth interviews, and photovoice.ResultsThis project was funded in January 2020 and approved by the University of Minnesota's Institutional Review Board in March 2020. For the 2020 growing season, we will conduct evaluative interviews about the effect of COVID-19 on community gardeners, including their experiences during this growing season. For the 2021 growing season, data collection, via pre- and postsurveys, is projected to begin in March 2021 and end in November 2021. We will also conduct in-depth interviews from January to April 2021. Data analysis will commence in April 2021. Photovoice activities (ie, data collection, analysis, synthesis, and dissemination) are expected to take place during the spring and summer of 2021.ConclusionsFindings emerging from this study will provide the preliminary data to foreground community gardening projects and initiatives to improve physical and mental health outcomes in food-insecure communities. Also, the data collected will highlight the role of CBPR methods in disseminating information about the organizational practices of the community garden; this will assist others in planning and implementing similar projects.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/21218

Watershed degradation and management practices in north-western highland Ethiopia.

Watershed degradation in Ethiopia has become a major environmental threat and caused significant damages both in the natural environment and the development of human society. This paper assesses an overview of the extent, causes, and effects of watershed degradation and the management actions in north-western highland Ethiopia, taking the Rib watershed as a case study site. The data were collected from field observations, interviews, and questionnaire surveys administered to 210 farmers. The results show that watershed degradation is a serious and widespread problem in the study site.The major causes of watershed degradation include population growth, uncontrolled grazing, unsustainable land use and management practices, and weakland ownership system. Watershed degradation, mainly in the form of soil erosion, has adverselyreduced agricultural production and worsened food insecurity and poverty in the study area. Various watershed management practices that combine structural and biological measures have been practiced to curb the problem. However, the farmers' decisions to adopt and implement the measures have been highly influenced by arangeof socioeconomic, biophysical, and institutional factors. Access to support services, size of the farmland, educational level, and plot ownership were found to influence farmers' decisions positively at a statistically significant (P < 0.01) level. It needs efforts to create farmer environmental awareness and develop strong watershed management standards and guidelines. The watershed could benefit from hand in hand efforts of local farmers, concerned governmental agencies, and researchers.

Gender differences in the relationship between land ownership and managerial rights: Implications for intrahousehold farm labor allocation

Abstract Recent research has increased interest in the intersection of land tenure and gender roles in African agriculture. While formalization of land ownership has been found to have important gender impacts, time use and management remain critical to both the productivity of agricultural operations as well as the welfare of household members. Thus, it is important to understand how gender intersects with the relationship between the ownership and operation of plots. We use plot level data from nationally representative household surveys in Ethiopia and Malawi to characterize the structure (sole male; sole female; or joint) and domain (plot ownership; plot management; or output management) of control over land in each household. We then answer the following research questions: 1) are there any gender gaps in the degrees of the concordance among different domains of controls? and 2) how does the structure of ownership and managerial rights affect labor allocations on plots? We find that for both males and females, sole managerial rights are most likely to occur in plots owned exclusively by either gender. However, on jointly owned plots, instances of sole planting rights are almost exclusively male. We also find that while females supply more of their own labor to plots they control, the pattern of own-gender bias in labor allocation varies with each structure-domain combination. The heterogeneity suggests gender inequality analyses related to land rights are sensitive to the choice of domain of control.

Terrorism and land use in agriculture: The case of Boko Haram in Nigeria

In many developing countries, subsistence agriculture is the mainstay of the rural economy, improved land access and efficient land use are critical to short-term livelihoods and long-term economic transformation, and major shocks to land ownership, utilization and arrangements have far-reaching implications for farm families. In many such countries, armed conflict is emerging as a significant source of shock to agricultural and food systems, but its effects on land use are not well understood. This paper conceptualizes and estimates the causal effects of exposure to attacks on plot ownership, cultivated land, rented land, land values and cropping patterns while controlling for other factors. Using data on Nigerian agricultural households affected by Boko Haram, we find that an increase in the intensity of terrorist attacks results in an increase in the amount of land owned due to the abandonment of farms by neighbors and family members, increases the percentage of land left fallow, increases the average size of plots farmed, increases the average distance between plots farmed and the homestead, discourages mono cropping and encourages mixed cropping. Farmers’ expectations about the values of their lands also decrease with exposure to terrorism.

Factors Influencing Land Degradation in the Billate Water shade: The Case of Dimtu and Shelo Sub Water shade, Southern Ethiopia

The economic growth of developing countries depends on the performance of the agricultural sector which in turn depends on how the natural resources are managed. Agriculture in Ethiopia is hindered by many factors among which land degradation in the form of soil erosion and nutrient depletion plays major role. Land degradation resulting from soil erosion and nutrient depletion is one of the most challenging environmental problems in Ethiopia. It has economic loss (food, pasture, and fuel wood) at household level. Billate is particular water shade found in the southern Ethiopia which faces similar problems. The study was to analyze factors influencing land degradation by examining the degree of land degradation, by identifying the factors influencing land degradation at plot level and by assessing management techniques applied in the billate water shade in the case of Dimtu and Shelo sub water shades, Southern Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary data were collected. Primary data were collected from 92 sampled households. Binary logit model analysis was used to determine factors affecting land degradation. The results revealed that only 10.9% of the sample households’ plots were undegraded and 89.1%, degraded with different degrees (slightly degraded, moderately degraded and severely degraded). The model results reveal that seven explanatory variables, education, plot ownership, livestock holding, family size, slope, and market distance from the residence were found to be statistically significance in affecting degradation at less than 10% probability level. The Billate Water shade is one of highly degraded areas with different degrees of land degradation (slightly degraded, moderately degraded and severely degraded). Understanding some of factors that determine land degradation of the area would contribute to devise appropriate strategies to achieve the desired change in SWC measures and to alleviate damages of land degradation in the study area. Sustainable land management systems must be developed to reduce further degradation and restore the productivity of the eroded land. Thus selecting strategies and intervention areas need to be given due attention in the near future. Keywords : Land degradation, Water shade, Land management, Household, Plot size DOI : 10.7176/JNSR/9-7-04 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Determinants of farmland degradation and its implication on crop productivity and sustainability

The study analyzed factors influencing smallholder farmland degradation and crop productivity in western Ethiopia. It was done based on survey of 120 households managing a total of 223 farm plots. The survey data was analyzed using ordered probit model. We found that out of 15 explanatory variables investigated, slope of the farm plot, plot distance from homestead, interval of crop rotation, frequency of growing cereal crops, and change in farm plot ownership were found to positively and significantly affect farmland degradation whereas other factors such as household responsibility in the society, livestock holding size, and soil and water conservation practices were found to negatively and significantly influence farmland degradation. The marginal effect of the slope and length of crop rotation interval on probability of the farmland to be classified as degraded land was found to be increased by 7 and 29%, respectively. The regression results show that crop productivity was significantly hampered by improved seeds used, plot size and farmland degradation. Therefore, if the investigated factors get policy merit, it is possible to minimize farmland degradation and enhance agricultural sustainability. Keywords: Farm plot; land management; land degradation; crop productivity; sustainability

Housing delivery to the low income in Botswana

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the housing delivery to the low income through the Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) in Gaborone, Botswana.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through the use of questionnaire, interviews, records searches and observations using the mixed-method approach to establish why people sale houses. Proportionate and simple random sampling was used to obtain a sample size of 93 plots for both new SHHA areas and old SHHA areas at 90 per cent confidence level. For each plot, data pertaining to plot allocation, plot ownership, exchange of ownership over the years were collected.FindingsThe findings revealed that the programme has been hit by challenges emanating from the low-income group selling their houses to middle-income group which is predominant in the area thus leading to gentrification. It was also established that the number of sales in SHHA areas were increasing as evidenced from the transfers that were taking place. This could be influenced by the increasing demand for housing due to a growing population in Gaborone. The findings also revealed that demand is one of the determinants of rising prices, thus an incentive to the low-income group to sell their houses at higher prices.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication of these findings is that the low income will be displaced and might become homeless in future thus creating an opportunity for illegal settlements to develop.Originality/valueThe study has provided a context in which housing delivery to the low-income group can be safe guarded.

Influence of prior distributions and random effects on count regression models: implications for estimating standing dead tree abundance

The presence and abundance of standing dead trees (SDTs) in forests is typically characterized by an excess number of zeros and high variation. The variability inherent in SDT data naturally leads to the assessment of novel quantitative methods to represent SDT populations and their role in contributing to forest ecosystem structure. This analysis assessed the performance of count regression methods fit with Bayesian mixed-effects models that estimate SDTs (all dead trees with a diameter at breast height \({\ge }12.7\hbox { cm}\) found on plots 0.07-ha in size) on over 17,000 forest inventory plots across the US Lake States (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin). Random effects models that used the independent variables basal area, mean annual temperature, and plot ownership (i.e., publicly- or privately-owned) as fixed effects and forest type as a random effect outperformed a method which used fixed-effects, alone. Standard and zero-inflated negative binomial models were effective in accounting for overdispersion present in the data (variance/mean ratio for SDT counts was 72.6), whereas Poisson count models were not. Random effects were calibrated on a new population of SDTs. Employing informative prior distributions from the developed model led to improved estimates of SDT abundance by reducing root mean square error by seven percent. This analysis highlights an approach that uses existing models for representing population averages while calibrating their local random effects with new data to arrive at improved estimates of SDTs across the region.

SPATIO-TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF LAND OCCUPATION, URBANIZATION AND URBAN AGRICULTURE ON THE ALLADA PLATEAU IN SOUTHERN BENIN

This article aims to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of land occupation, urbanization and urban agriculture on the Allada Plateau in southern Benin. The Allada Plateau is a well-known rural area that produces fruits and vegetables for the major cities in Benin. However, the increasing pressure from human settlement is a real threat for farming activities in this region. In order to understand the phenomenon of spatio-temporal dynamics of land occupation, map projections for the following years are presented: 1959, 1972, 1992 and 2006. A rapid diagnosis of plot ownership by group makes it possible to clearly see how land is currently being utilized. Basic ownership and water usage units remained stable. Declining ecosystem units are rain and semi-evergreen rain forests and palm oil crop rotation; increasing units are crops, fallow land, industrial plantation of teak, palm oil, fruit trees and built-up areas. A new form of peri urban farming activities representing 13.61% of the total area is emerging. In the context of new land ownership, tree planting stabilizes the land, raises money and provides shade. Natural resource consumers, urbanization and preservation and/or protection of natural resources are not necessarily in conflict. However, the inclusion of urban agriculture and afforestation in urban planning has become a challenge for the sustainable development of urban expansion.