Poor Quality Land Research Articles

Rainwater Flood risk assessment in Zaatari Refugees Camp- Jordan: Towards Sustainable Solutions

Refugee settlements are frequently located in isolated and remote areas, characterized by poor-quality land and harsh climatic conditions. Zaatari camp in Jordan has suffered and continues to suffer from rainwater floods every winter. This study uses GIS analysis to assess flood risk in the camp, revealing that 61.1% of the area is moderately risky, while 0.84% and 22.42% are very high and high-risk zones respectively. The highest risk areas are near the camp boundary. This study recommends a structural intervention and first-class priority at the entrance area of the camp as it is located within a high-risk area and is of vital importance from a functional standpoint. These recommendations range to areas within high-risk zone in (1, 2, 7, 12) districts, to moderate risk zone in (4,8,11) districts with precautionary and preventive measures. In addition, some structural solutions can be implemented in several stages. This research is significant not only for managing flood risk in Zaatari but also for providing a replicable methodology for similar humanitarian settlements worldwide.

Refugee settlements are highly exposed to extreme weather conditions.

Involuntary displacement from conflict and other causes leads to clustering of refugees and internally displaced people, often in long-term settlements. Within refugee-hosting countries, refugee settlements are frequently located in isolated and remote areas, characterized by poor-quality land and harsh climatic conditions. Yet, the exposure of refugee settlements to climatic events is underresearched. In this article, we study the exposure of the 20 largest refugee settlements worldwide to extreme variations in climatic conditions. The analysis integrates exposure of camp locations compared to the national trends for both slow- and rapid-onset events and includes descriptive statistics, signal-to-noise analyses, and trend analyses. Our findings show that most refugee settlements included face relatively high exposure to slow-onset events, including high temperatures (for settlements in Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, and Uganda), low temperatures (in the case of Jordan and Pakistan), and low levels of rainfall (in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda) compared to national averages. Our findings for rapid-onset events-heatwaves, coldwaves, and extreme rainfall-are less conclusive compared to country trends, although we find relatively high exposure to extreme rainfall in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Our analyses confirm that refugee populations are exposed to extreme weather conditions postdisplacement, which, in combination with their sociopolitical exclusion, poses a threat to well-being and increased marginalization. Our findings call for an inclusive and integrated approach, including refugees and their host communities, in designing climate adaptation and sustainable development policies, in order to promote equitable sustainable development pathways in refugee-hosting countries.

Rising agricultural water scarcity in China is driven by expansion of irrigated cropland in water scarce regions

Rising agricultural water scarcity in China is driven by expansion of irrigated cropland in water scarce regions

Small, But Significant Declines In Crop Productivity On Low Fertility Soils

Agricultural yields are susceptible to losses during extreme weather events related to climate change, jeopardizing food security. Yield losses may be mediated by underlying quality or variation of agricultural land in soil fertility, topography, drainage, and growing degree days. For instance, crops grown on poor quality land may be more susceptible to the negative consequences of climate variation as compared to crops grown on high quality land. This study investigated yield response for corn, soybeans, and pasture to different land qualities across Ontario from 2011 to 2017. Yield is approximated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is a satellite-derived measure of biomass production. For three focal crops (soybean, corn, and pasture), the average maximum NDVI and the coefficient of variance (CV) of maximum NDVI were aggregated at a provincial and county scale for each land quality classification. Relatively stable CV values were evident across all land qualities, yet certain counties showed greater variation in productivity on poor quality land suggesting greater susceptibility to extreme weather. Over 7 years, there were small but significant declines in NDVI in response to poor quality land for all three crop types. This suggests that agricultural producers cannot overcome the biophysical limitations of poor quality land on crop yield. Understanding differential crop productivity responses to land quality can help producers mitigate crop losses to climatic variation, thus equally stabilizing food availability.

Informal government preferences and asymmetric land allocation in China

Whether governments have informal preferences toward firms when allocating land resources and the effects of such preferences on regional development remain unclear, particularly in countries with weak formal institutions. This paper investigates the government’s informal preferences in land allocations in China. Substantial evidence is found that politically connected firms are preferred to win land auctions at lower prices due to two different reasons. These preferences are informally achieved through a two-stage auction mechanism rather than formal bid preference programs, and result in the asymmetrical allocation of urban land in terms of land quality, quantity, and price, across politically and non-politically connected firms in China. The state-owned enterprises are allocated poor quality land parcels at 55% land price discounts. In comparison, the manager-based politically connected firms are allocated regular land parcels at 6% price discounts, and other firms without connections with the government are allocated regular land at higher prices.

The state and the perspectives of the eco-energy infrastructure development in Biała Podlaska County (Poland). Part II Estimation of solid biomass resources for energy purposes

The paper estimates the possibility of obtaining solid biomass for energy purposes in the Biała Podlaska County (Lublin Voivodeship, Poland). The estimates were based on data on: forest area, orchards and tree stands, land use, crop structure, animal population, and marginal land area in the County. It was found that in most communes, there are great possibilities of obtaining biomass for energy purposes. The largest resource is straw (243,501 Mg per year), which should first be used in agriculture as animal litter and organic fertilizer. Only its surplus can be intended for the combustion and production of pellets and briquettes. In the County, large areas of poor quality land were inventoried, on which perennial energy plants with low requirements can be grown. Up to 113,595 Mg of biomass can be obtained there. The basic condition for the development of targeted energy crops is the emergence of a biomass market: installations that convert biomass into fuels or produce energy on a local scale and sell it to power plants. Currently, a commonly used resource is wood biomass from forests and wood processing, which is used as fuel in domestic boilers, as well as for the production of pellets and briquettes.

Carbon Footprint of Different Harvesting Work Systems in Short Rotation Energy Plantations

Abstract Almost half of the total area of Hungary is arable land. Nearly one-third of this area is poor-quality arable land where agriculture would be uneconomical. Energy plantations can be grown extremely well on poor-quality land. Currently, the carbon neutrality of wood as a raw material must also be justified, considering several factors. Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) was developed as a tool for sustainable, decision-supporting, environmental management, which is an outstanding tool for the well-established analysis of environmental impacts, although the application of it in forestry remained a challenge for the LCA community. No sector specific LCA and life cycle inventory methodology has been developed in forestry; thus, implementing such a methodology remains a big challenge. Calculated on a common functional unit (100 m3/ha wood chips, 100% energy purpose), we have performed a comparative environmental life cycle assessment for harvesting technologies of short rotation energy plantations (technology related to stands of 3 ha of poplar, 5–10 ha of willow, 20 ha of willow), specifically for the third year harvesting work system. Research results on global warming potential show the carbon footprint of harvesting work systems, the knowledge of which has a strong influence on the environmental consideration of raw material (wood chips) and also on the more precise definition of carbon sequestration capacity. The typical values of carbon balance ratio (1.37–1.46) indicate a positive carbon sequestration potential and a magnitude well within the system boundaries of the third year harvesting work system submodule. The results obtained enable the estimation and prediction of environmental impacts for the whole lifecycle of the plantation.

Impacts of Non-farm Employment of Rural Laborers on Agricultural Land Use: Theoretical Analysis and Its Policy Implications

During rapid urbanization and industrialization process, non-farm employment of rural laborers has emerged as a prevalent phenomenon in rural areas of China and become an important driving factor for changes in agricultural land use. This article attempts to theoretically analyze the impacts of non-farm employment of rural laborers on agricultural land use based on economic frameworks. As rational agents, farmers aim to maximize their income and follow equilibrium principles when they decide how to allocate their labor forces (or working time) in two departments (farm and non-farm) and how to use their agricultural land with different quality and location. The income earned by non-farm employment is higher, and there exists a comparative advantage between labors, as a result the quantity and quality of labor input in agricultural land use decreases. With the limitation of labor input during agricultural land use decision-making of farm households, on the one hand, land with higher quality is still utilized by farmers. On the other hand, poor quality land will be less well managed and is more likely to be abandoned. Non-farm employment of rural laborers and the rising of opportunity costs will result in abandonment of poor quality land, and great importance should be attached to this by policy makers.

Pro-poor Leasehold Forestry: A Community-based Tenure Regime in Nepal

Nepal’s Leasehold Forestry (LHF) programme,which has the twin goals of degraded forest rehabilitation and rural poverty alleviation, started in the early 1990s and is regarded as a priority forestry programme in Nepal.There has been limited documentationof the impact of the LHF programme as well as of the issues and challenges faced by it. On the basis of scarce existing literature and of our long experience working in the programme, we, in this paper, discuss such impacts, issues and challenges. We suggest that the programme has so far been quite positive in meeting the stated objectives; however, there remains a range of issues that deserve on-going attention. While the programme, in general, is criticized for its strategy of handing over poor quality land to the poor people, the communities’ tenure rights over land and forest resources is not fully secured either. Provisions regarding the transfer of tenure rights to the kin and/or in the context of absentees are absent, and the benefit sharing mechanisms are unclear in case of trees which were present at the time of handover, and compete across other overlapping forest management activities. Support services available to the LHF user groups are inadequate and discontinuous, limiting the opportunities for the poor leaseholders to harness their potential to pool resources from other poverty reduction programmes and influence policy processes. We indicate some areas of intervention at policy and programme levels that seek to overcome these issues and to provide wider space for LHF user groups to exercise their agency towards achieving the programme’s goals effectively, efficiently and equitably.

Livelihoods and Child Welfare among Poor Rural Farmers in East Africa

AbstractThis paper explores aspects of household livelihoods and welfare among poor rural farmers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The models use data from an extensive cross‐sectional household survey undertaken in 2013 of over 3,500 rural households. Interest is in identifying the main input constraints to improving farm production, with a particular focus on labour constraints, and the impacts of farm production on the well‐being of children — their food security, resilience and engagement in school. The results show low agricultural productivity, and that yields per hectare decline significantly with land size. This is consistent with poor quality land and a labour constraint in agricultural activity: there is insufficient return on labour to justify further investment of effort to cultivate the land, given the typically low‐input, labour‐intensive farming methods. Food shortage models also show that adult labour is relatively unproductive: having more adults in the household produces little reduction in the incidence of food shortages. Overall the results suggest some directions for development interventions, by highlighting that the critical issue for economic and social development among these communities is to improve the productivity of both land and labour.

The Toposequential Analysis and Cultivation of the Land Skills Misserghin Region (the Northern Margin of the Oran Great Sebkha-Algeria)

Topo-sequential analysis based on data of: clay analysis, climate, vegetation, geology and geomorphology of soil. This allows identifying different types of soil in Misserghin area. Our results show the presence of three types of soil as following: (i) The Iron siallitic soils founded at the bottom of Murdjadjo Mountain. It corresponds to an agrological poor quality land. It is situated in a medium depth. These soils have one or more adverse characters that can be developed in a modest way; (ii) The Alluvial soils, which occupying the plain of Misserghin on a medium slopes, these corresponds to an agrological good quality land, (iii) The Saline sodic soils (or salino-sols) which are founded in the downstream part of the catchment area (in the proximity of the Sebkha) and they showed very poor agrological quality. The key recommendation in relation to the development of agriculture in the north of the Oran Great Sebkha, is the concentration of farming activities in the alluvial soils that have good agrological quality land where the slope is delivering an average vast plain like the Misserghin plain. This area served as a model of cultural aptitudes of studies based on a thin topo-sequential analysis.

Lifecycle assessment of microalgae to biofuel: Comparison of thermochemical processing pathways

Abstract Microalgae is being investigated as a renewable transportation fuel feedstock based on various advantages that include high annual yields, utilization of poor quality land, does not compete with food, and can be integrated with various waste streams. This study focuses on directly assessing the environmental impact of two different thermochemical conversion technologies for the microalgae-to-biofuel process through life cycle assessment. A system boundary of “well to pump” (WTP) is defined and includes sub-process models of the growth, dewatering, thermochemical bio-oil recovery, bio-oil stabilization, conversion to renewable diesel, and transport to the pump. Models were validated with experimental and literature data and are representative of an industrial-scale microalgae-to-biofuel process. Two different thermochemical bio-oil conversion systems are modeled and compared on a systems level, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) and pyrolysis. The environmental impact of the two pathways were quantified on the metrics of net energy ratio (NER), defined here as energy consumed over energy produced, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Results for WTP biofuel production through the HTL pathway were determined to be 1.23 for the NER and GHG emissions of −11.4 g CO 2-eq (MJ renewable diesel) − 1 . Biofuel production through the pyrolysis pathway results in a NER of 2.27 and GHG emissions of 210 g CO 2-eq (MJ renewable diesel) − 1 . The large environmental impact associated with the pyrolysis pathway is attributed to feedstock drying requirements and combustion of co-products to improve system energetics. Discussion focuses on a detailed breakdown of the overall process energetics and GHGs, impact of modeling at laboratory-scale compared to industrial-scale, environmental impact sensitivity to systems engineering input parameters for future focused research and development, and a comparison of results to literature.

The contents and laws of soil anthropogenous evolution

Long soil ploughed up are typical polygenetic formations as in their formation alongside with natural the significant role is played with anthropogenous factors. Under action of mechanical, chemical, reclamative and other kinds influences natural soils lose inherent in them a structure, properties and modes. Anisotropism, spatial heterogeneity, preferential descending and ascending streams of a moisture amplify, new types of horizontal and vertical soil structures are formed, grows the equilibrium bulk density, consolidation and quantity of false aggregates, the structure pore spaces changes, obvious braking processes of aggregation is marked, ability to convertibility of properties and modes as the basic condition of counteraction of degradation processes is lost, rhythmic of soil formation due to activization relax processes is broken characteristic for natural soil. Significant changes occur in thin dispersed mineral and organic parts. The total humus decreases, its lability increases, is observed claying, because of increase in depth of watering and lowering of carbonates level it is locally marked acidification. As a result it is ascertained, that in conditions of unbalanced and poor-quality land tenure even simple reproduction of soil fertility is impossible, and an equilibrium (stable) condition of soil properties and modes – more likely wrongly generated on the basis of not enough long-term researches. As a result of anthropogenous evolution for rather short historical time interval the new body – anthropogenous transformed soils was generated. This fact demands reflection in soil classification and correctives in studying, management of their fertility and use. Possible scripts of the further anthropogenous soil evolution are discussed: the degradation, a seeming balance and "reasonable" precise agriculture. Degradation (degradation) – the most probable script at preservation of modern unbalanced and poor-quality agriculture. Degradation in these conditions can gradually become the factor forming an agrisoil. A seeming balance (seeming equilibrium, balance). – the least probable script. Seeming because it is characteristic for short-term prospect, but in conditions of long scarce balance elements and excessive mechanical loading soil evolution cannot be equilibrium. Steady development - the script to which it is necessary to aspire ("reasonable" agriculture - intelligence agriculture). The script on immediate prospects – instead of the zone generalized technologies – exact agriculture (precise agriculture) in view of spatial diversity, history of a field and a stage of its anthropogenous evolution. The organization of researches is necessary for realization of the favorable script of anthropogenous soil evolution with use of modes in situ and on-line, landscape soil-ecological ranges, complex stationary experiences with application of methods of planning of experiment, use of effective methods of forecasting of soil processes and as a whole exemplary system of scientific monitoring. Uncontrolled soil use in the country should not be.

Integration of microalgae cultivation with industrial waste remediation for biofuel and bioenergy production: opportunities and limitations

There is currently a renewed interest in developing microalgae as a source of renewable energy and fuel. Microalgae hold great potential as a source of biomass for the production of energy and fungible liquid transportation fuels. However, the technologies required for large-scale cultivation, processing, and conversion of microalgal biomass to energy products are underdeveloped. Microalgae offer several advantages over traditional 'first-generation' biofuels crops like corn: these include superior biomass productivity, the ability to grow on poor-quality land unsuitable for agriculture, and the potential for sustainable growth by extracting macro- and micronutrients from wastewater and industrial flue-stack emissions. Integrating microalgal cultivation with municipal wastewater treatment and industrial CO(2) emissions from coal-fired power plants is a potential strategy to produce large quantities of biomass, and represents an opportunity to develop, test, and optimize the necessary technologies to make microalgal biofuels more cost-effective and efficient. However, many constraints on the eventual deployment of this technology must be taken into consideration and mitigating strategies developed before large scale microalgal cultivation can become a reality. As a strategy for CO(2) biomitigation from industrial point source emitters, microalgal cultivation can be limited by the availability of land, light, and other nutrients like N and P. Effective removal of N and P from municipal wastewater is limited by the processing capacity of available microalgal cultivation systems. Strategies to mitigate against the constraints are discussed.

The development of linear regression models using environmental variables to explain the spatial distribution of Fasciola hepatica infection in dairy herds in England and Wales

Fasciolosis caused by Fasciola hepatica is a major cause of economic loss to the agricultural community worldwide as a result of morbidity and mortality in livestock. Spatial models developed with the aid of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to develop risk maps for fasciolosis for use in the formulation of disease control programmes. Here we investigate the spatial epidemiology of F. hepatica in dairy herds in England and Wales and develop linear regression models to explain observed patterns of exposure at a small spatial unit, the postcode area. Exposure data used for the analysis were taken from an earlier study of F. hepatica infection, performed in the winter of 2006/7. Climatic, environmental, soil, livestock and pasture variables were considered as potential predictors. The performance of models that used climate variables for 5 years average data, contemporary data and a combination of both for England and Wales, and for England only, was compared. All models explained over 70% of the variation in the prevalence of exposure. The best performing models were those built using 5 year average and contemporary weather data. However, the fit of these models was only slightly better than the fit of models using weather data from one time period only. Rainfall was a consistent predictor in all models. Other model covariates included temperature, the negative predictors of soil pH and slope and the positive predictors of poor quality land, as determined by the Agricultural Land Classification, and very fine sand content of soil. Choroplethic risk maps showed a good match between the observed F. hepatica exposure values and exposure values fitted by the models. The development of these detailed spatial models is the first step towards the development of a spatially specific, temporal forecasting system for liver fluke in the United Kingdom.

Genetically modified crops, factor endowments, biased technological change, wages and poverty reduction

Genetically Modified (GM), Herbicide Tolerant (HT) white maize, developed in the USA to save labour, is being grown by smallholders in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. This paper uses panel data for Africa, Asia and Latin America to investigate the effects of factor endowments and biased technological change on productivity growth, labour incomes and poverty reduction. Preliminary results show that lack of population pressure on the land slows yield growth, which itself largely explains labour productivity growth in agriculture. Labour productivity growth is the key determinant of wages, growth in GDP per capita and poverty reduction. Africa seems to have fared poorly in poverty reduction because many countries have abundant poor quality land. There has been yield growth, but it has not led to growth in labour productivity, as it did during the Asian green revolution. Thus, a GM technology that raises labour productivity could be beneficial, so long as employment is maintained.

Spatial and temporal patterns of China's cropland during 1990–2000: An analysis based on Landsat TM data

There are large discrepancies among estimates of the cropland area in China due to the lack of reliable data. In this study, we used Landsat TM/ETM data at a spatial resolution of 30 m to reconstruct spatial and temporal patterns of cropland across China for the time period of 1990–2000. Our estimate has indicated that total cropland area in China in 2000 was 141.1 million hectares (ha), including 35.6 million ha paddy land and 105.5 million ha dry farming land. The distribution of cropland is uneven across the regions of China. The North-East region of China shows more cropland area per capita than the South-East and North regions of China. During 1990–2000, cropland increased by 2.79 million ha, including 0.25 million ha of paddy land and 2.53 million ha of dry farming land. The North-East and North-West regions of China gained cropland area, while the North and South-East regions showed a loss of cropland area. Urbanization accounted for more than half of the transformation from cropland to other land uses, and the increase in cropland was primarily due to reclamation of grassland and deforestation. Most of the lost cropland had good quality with high productivity, but most gained cropland was poor quality land with less suitability for crop production. The globalization as well as changing environment in China is affecting land-use change. Coordinating the conflict between environmental conservation and land demands for food will continue to be a primary challenge for China in the future.

Africa in Asia? the development challenges facing Eastern Indonesia and East Timor

In recent years a distinction has been made in the development literature between “Asian” poverty, which is thought to be the result of high rural population densities and high rates of landlessness, and “African” poverty, which is more the result of sparse populations farming poor quality land and cut off by inadequate infrastructure from markets for goods, labour and credit. This paper pursues this distinction in the context of Indonesia and points out that in recent years the highest incidence of poverty has been found not in the densely settled islands of Java and Bali, but in the more remote and less populated provinces in the eastern part of the archipelago. This paper explores the correlates of poverty by province in Indonesia in 1996 and finds support for the view that the poorest provinces are those characterized by low population densities, undeveloped markets, low road densities and low educational attainment. The policy implications of these findings are examined in the final part of the paper.

Economic Analysis of Sequestering Carbon in Green Ash Forests in the Lower Mississippi River Valley

Since the U.S. is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), it has become crucial to develop options that are both cost effective and supportive of sustainable development to reduce atmospheric CO2. Electric utility companies have the options of reducing their use of fossil fuels, switching to alternative energy sources, increasing efficiency, or offsetting carbon emissions. This study determined the cost and profitability of sequestering carbon in green ash plantations, and the number of tons of carbon that can be sequestered. The profitability of green ash is $2,342 and $3,645 per acre on site indices (measurement of soil quality) 65 and 105 land, respectively, calculated with a 2.5% alternative rate of return (ARR). These figures shift to –$248 and –$240 calculated with a 15.0% ARR. If landowners who have an ARR of 2.5% can sell carbon credits for $10 per ton of carbon, profits will increase by $107 per acre on poor sites and $242 on good sites. Over one rotation (cutting cycle), 38.56 net tons of carbon can be sequestered on an acre of poor quality land and 51.35 tons on good quality land. The cost of sequestering carbon, without including revenues from timber production and carbon credits, ranges from a high of $15.20 per ton on poor sites to $14.41 on good sites, calculated with a 2.5% ARR; to a high of $8.51 per ton on poor sites to $7.63 on good sites, calculated with a 15.0% ARR. The cost of storing carbon can be reduced significantly if the trees can be sold for wood products.

Land use change in rice, wheat and maize production in China (1961–1998)

Land use change in China is related closely to global environmental change and global food security. In this paper, we analyzed land use change for rice, wheat and maize production in China during 1961–1998 based on long-term historical data. The results indicated that the total land area planted for cereals had both increased and decreased between 1961 and 1998. The total area in cereals increased or remained unchanged during 1961–1978, a period when the “Cultural Revolution” occurred, and also increased during 1986–1990 when the Chinese government increased subsides to agriculture. However, the total area in cereals declined during 1980–1985, a period corresponding to the implementation of the “household responsibility system” policy, and during 1991–1995, when a large proportion of the rural labor force moved to urban areas. The center of cereal production has moved towards northern China although the major area planted for rice, wheat and maize together is still located in southern China. The yield per hectare for all crops has increased from 1.21 t/ha in 1961 to 4.83 t/ha in 1998, but the yield per unit chemical fertilizer use decreased from 164 (rice), 44 (wheat) and 93 (maize) kg/kg in 1961 to 10 (rice), 6 (wheat) and 9 (maize) kg/kg in 1998. The increases in yield per hectare and production per capita appear mostly due to the increased industrial energy inputs, especially the rapid increase in chemical fertilizer use after the “household responsibility system” in late 1970s. The decline of the yield per unit chemical fertilizer use appears as a result of fertilizer saturation, soil degradation, soil and water pollution, the shortage of irrigation in the north, the threat of flooding in the south, and poor and low quality land use, as well as other social, economic and technical issues. With limited reclaimed land resources remaining and a near saturation in the response of crops to fertilizers, increasing food demand from the increasing population will have to come mainly from increased land productivity that will almost certainly continue to lead to the decline of energy (e.g. fertilizer) use efficiency and continued environmental degradation. Alternatively China may begin to import large amounts of food. This situation will generate adverse effects on sustainable development in China, as well as food security in the world, especially if world energy is in short supply.