Subsistence Farming Research Articles

Anthropogenic impact on erosion, pedogenesis and fluvial processes in the central European landscapes of the eastern Harz mountains forelands (Germany)

The Holocene development of soils and sediments at three sites in the eastern Harz foreland was investigated using field and laboratory methods and integrated into the regional Holocene record of this central European landscape.Apart from early Holocene processes, the history of mid-to late Holocene slope erosion was found to be closely linked to the local land-use history. By c. 1000 BP, soil erosion is a process that is detectable throughout the study area.The studied Chernozemic soils that now cover large areas of the studied landscape are of varying Holocene age. Linear radiocarbon age-depth relations of soil organic matter and indicative changes in soil mineral composition suggest that the Chernozem was formed by long-lasting anecic earthworm cast accumulation at the soil surface. Persistent periods of landscape openness maintained by local preindustrial agriculture explain the promotion of anecic earthworms in naturally forested landscapes of central Europe and act as temporally transgressive drivers of landscape change.An early to mid-Holocene phase of reduced fluvial activity was followed by the onset of Holocene flooding, which correlates with the onset of mining in the Harz Mountains around ca. 3000 BP (e.g. Helme). The onset of flooding of the small streams Zapfenbach and Liethe coincided with the documented medieval and modern mining phases in the eastern Harz. At all sites, present-day flooding frequencies are higher than during the early to mid-Holocene. Shifts in river system behaviour attributable to anthropogenic activities in the Harz Mountains are therefore considered another Anthropocene marker.Based on our observations, we propose that land-use-induced alteration of central European low Mountain rivers and the formation of Holocene Chernozems in subhumid central Europe, in addition to anthropogenic-induced Holocene soil erosion, are included in the cadastre of early Anthropocene processes. These processes have left distinct traces in the continental geologic record. Thus, they would support arguments for long-term time transgressive anthropogenic transformation of Earth surface systems. However, the tipping points for these processes are dated differently (soil erosion - ca. 1000 BP, river activity - ca. 3000 BP, Chernozem formation - diachronous since the Neolithic) and are closely linked to local and regional land use history. Thus, our results are another example that the definition of “golden spikes” remains a critical undertaking, especially for the beginning of the Anthropocene.

Agricultural and Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Farmer Household Dietary Diversity in India: A Comparative Study of Visakhapatnam and Sonipat.

Using primary data from 479 farmer households, this study examined the associations between agricultural and socioeconomic factors and farmer household dietary diversity in Visakhapatnam and Sonipat. Cropping intensity was positively associated with farmers' household dietary diversity score (HDDS), suggesting that higher cropping intensity may expand the gross cropped area and improve food security among subsistence farmers. Distance to food markets was also significantly associated with farmer HDDS, which suggests that market integration with rural households can improve farmer HDDS in Visakhapatnam. In Sonipat, wealth index had a positive association with farmer HDDS, targeting the income pathway by improving farmer HDDS in this region. Considering the relative contribution of these factors, distance to food markets, cropping intensity, and crop diversity were the three most important factors affecting farmer HDDS in Visakhapatnam, whereas wealth index, cropping intensity, and distance to food markets emerged as the top three important factors contributing to farmer HDDS in Sonipat. Our study concludes that the associations between agricultural and socioeconomic factors and farmer HDDS are complex but context- and location-specific; therefore, considering the site- and context-specific circumstances, different connections to HDDS in India can be found to better support policy priorities on the ground.

Their Determination to Remain: A Cherokee Community’s Resistance to the Trail of Tears in North Carolina by Lance Greene

Reviewed by: Their Determination to Remain: A Cherokee Community’s Resistance to the Trail of Tears in North Carolina by Lance Greene Noel E. Smyth Their Determination to Remain: A Cherokee Community’s Resistance to the Trail of Tears in North Carolina. By Lance Greene. Indians and Southern History. (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2022. Pp. xvi, 184. $54.95, ISBN 978-0-8173-2112-3.) In Their Determination to Remain: A Cherokee Community’s Resistance to the Trail of Tears in North Carolina, historical archaeologist Lance Greene investigates a community of Cherokees that evaded the Trail of Tears by absconding to Welch’s Town, North Carolina, from 1839 to 1855. A mixed-descent Cherokee man named John Welch and his wife, Betty, a white woman, owned a plantation there, and in 1838 they offered land and resources to nearly one hundred Cherokees who settled in the mountains on their property. Greene argues that the “hybrid space” of the plantation enabled the Welches to conceal and protect their community (p. 133). He shows how this hybrid [End Page 140] community was able to maintain a traditional Cherokee emphasis on localism and town-centered politics even as some individuals also practiced European-derived chattel slavery. The book is organized chronologically, with the first and second chapters providing a narrative overview of Cherokee history from the early republic to the Trail of Tears. The third, fourth, and fifth chapters offer an analysis of the material remains excavated by Greene at the Welch plantation site in 2004 and 2006. From the material remains, Greene reconstructs the political economy of Welch’s Town, which included the use of slave labor to grow surplus grains, and describes how this production was supplemented with subsistence farming and traditional gathering and hunting activities practiced by Cherokees residing in the hills behind the Welch plantation. Betty Welch ran the plantation’s outward-facing business, which allowed her and her husband to accrue wealth and to have some limited influence in southern American society. Betty and John Welch held at least nine enslaved African Americans in bondage, and Greene argues that “their success and the associated success of Welch’s Town depended upon the enslaved community on the plantation” (p. 134). This book adds to the growing literature on slavery in Cherokee country and the ways in which some Cherokees adopted chattel slavery to secure liminal spaces for themselves as Native peoples in the ante-bellum South. Greene is also interested in answering the question, “What was life like for the enslaved people, mostly women and children, held captive by the Welches?” (p. 105). The book, however, does not offer many satisfying answers. Furthermore, Green argues, “Ironically, those African Americans held in bondage enabled a small number of Cherokee families to challenge white hegemony.” He does not explain how “establishing plantation estates” defied “the ideology of white supremacy” (p. 21). The adoption of slavery by some elite Cherokee families seems to be another example of cultural hybridity, rather than a rejection of white supremacy. At the heart of this book is a marginalized community of Cherokees that resisted ethnic cleansing and also adopted chattel slavery in order to secure their survival. This fundamental dynamic could have been more deeply and productively analyzed, but the book leaves this critical tension underexplored. To Greene’s credit, he is careful to point out that Cherokee slaveholders could be just as cruel as white slaveholders, but in other areas of the book there are claims that are jarring and out of step with current arguments about slavery. Overall, this book is an important addition to our understanding of both Cherokee survival in North Carolina after 1838 and how the adoption of chattel slavery was used by some Native Americans to secure the survival of their communities in the antebellum South. The book does not offer much that is new about the history of chattel slavery or the specific experiences and lives of those enslaved at Welch’s Town. However, despite this limitation, the book provides a detailed and extensive account of Welch’s Town and of how Cherokee identity and localism remained strong among those communities through the nineteenth century and beyond. [End...

Lablab purpureus: Analysis of landraces cultivation and distribution, farming systems, and some climatic trends in production areas in Tanzania

Abstract Lablab is a multifunctional crop that is underutilized in Africa. This study was performed to assess Lablab landraces cultivation and distribution, farming systems, and some climatic trends in Lablab production areas in Tanzania. A socio-economic survey was engaged to locate the main production areas using Global Positioning System, while participatory research tools were used to assess farming systems, practices, and challenges perceived in Lablab production. Some weather data were collected to establish climatic trends in Lablab production areas. The study revealed a wide cultivation and distribution of Lablab landraces in five agro-ecological zones with some variations. These variations were influenced by market demand for Lablab in Kenya and its role in subsistence farming. Lablab was mainly produced for conservation agriculture and enhanced soil fertility (27.9%), marketing (22.1%), livestock feeding (21.5%), food during drought conditions (15.4%), traditional purposes (7.4%), regular consumption (3.8%), and other minor uses (1.8%) varied significantly across the zones (χ 2 = 37.639, p = 0.038). The farming systems included intercropping (59.0%), mono-cropping (31.0%), home based gardening (5.0%), crop rotation (3.0%), and relaying cropping (2.0%) with no significant difference across the zones (χ 2 = 15.049, p = 0.314). A wide range of farmers’ practices were noted in Lablab production zone-wise. Unavailability of improved varieties and poor market channels were the farmers’ key challenges in Lablab production. It was further noticed that Lablab was mainly produced in areas with dry conditions. Finally, it was suggested that effort should be enhanced to improve genetic resource conservation, value addition, and market channels to other countries while developing improved varieties in terms of high yielding and drought tolerance.

Carolina's Golden Fields: Inland Rice Cultivation in the South Carolina Lowcountry, 1670–1860

In Carolina's Golden Fields, Hayden Smith delivers a long overdue assessment of inland rice culture's importance to the South Carolina Lowcountry. Due to a dearth of primary sources and the fact that most inland rice fields have been lost to reforestation and development, historians have overlooked inland rice cultivation or have viewed it as a primitive stage of rice cultivation when compared to tidal cultivation. Rather, as Smith's work demonstrates, inland rice cultivation required planters and enslaved laborers to exercise precise knowledge of topography and hydrology to render their harvests profitable. The utilization of this knowledge began when free and enslaved Carolinians experimented with rice alongside other grains as a subsistence crop, first relying on the “providence” method and then realizing the advantages of impervious soils and water management. Using Pooshee, Newington, and Charleywood plantations as examples in chapter 2, Smith demonstrates how rice planters and enslaved laborers adapted to and manipulated varied microenvironments to make cultivation successful and ultimately create a foundation for South Carolina's colonial economy and the expansion of slavery. With the foundation set in the first decades of the eighteenth century, land acquisition and a stable market prompted rice planters to engage in ever more elaborate schemes for irrigation and drainage that mirrored new strategies being used for tidal cultivation. As Smith discusses in chapter 3, this intensive stage of development resulted in higher profits, increased demand for labor, and susceptibility to malaria, freshets, and declining soil fertility. Consequently, planters increasingly perceived the environment as unhealthy and downright hostile.Nevertheless, inland rice cultivation persisted throughout the antebellum period and contributed to the evolution of the Lowcountry's agricultural regime. Focusing on four Wando River plantations in chapter 4, Smith notes how rice planters expanded their landholdings in the post–Revolutionary War era in order to access water and have enslaved laborers construct reservoirs and canals. Smith's microanalysis of each plantation illuminates his earlier theme that this work required knowledge of topography and hydrology to make rice cultivation profitable. It also involved constant experimentation with planting strategies to maintain crop yields. For some planters, successful inland rice cultivation also provided a potential avenue into the Lowcountry aristocracy. Locked out of the more expensive tidal plantation market, social aspirants like Mathurin Gibbs and John Irving saw inland rice as a means to establish their status as planters. As chapter 5 makes clear, despite ambition and the knowledge of experienced overseers, their efforts were frustrated by environmental limitations and small labor forces. Indeed, Gibbs succumbed to malaria in 1849. Yet agricultural reformers espoused inland rice as a way to diversify their planting portfolio when the fertility of their cotton lands declined in the two decades preceding the Civil War. In chapter 6, Smith focuses on Middle Saint John's Berkeley Parish where the Black Oak Agricultural Society promoted scientific experimentation and planters had access to the numerous inland swamps and freshwater springs in Biggin Basin. These reform efforts never amounted to much, but the attempt to revive inland rice testified to its persistence as a symbol of economic salvation.With emancipation, large-scale rice cultivation collapsed and former inland rice lands returned to forest. Purchased by timber companies or converted to subdivisions in the twentieth century, little remains of the inland rice infrastructure that Smith describes throughout the book. However, drawing from plantation ledgers, manuscripts, agricultural journals, deeds and plats, geological and archaeological reports, and myriad other primary and secondary sources, Smith rescues inland rice cultivation from obscurity and gives it a central place in South Carolina's environmental history. Moreover, Hayden Smith has walked the land he describes, and Carolina's Golden Fields exemplifies his intimate knowledge of the Lowcountry, past and present, as well as his skill as a historian. His astute attention to the terrain of forest and history make this a readable, informed, and important contribution to the historiography of rice, slavery, and the environment.

Lentil and Mungbean protein isolates: Processing, functional properties, and potential food applications

Among the wide range of plant-based protein sources, pulse proteins stand out for their nutritional values and functional properties, together with sustainability. The global attention on soy and pea proteins, however, has overlooked other pulses. This review has explored underutilized and under-researched pulses, lentils and mungbean, by considering their comparable protein contents but different protein composition to that of soy and pea proteins. The traditional subsistence farming of lentils and mungbean has evolved with their emergence in the global agriculture sector. Research on lentil and mungbean protein extraction, however, has not been as extensive as for soy and pea. The novel dry fractionation methods benefiting protein native structure are in the early stage of optimizing protein yield. The milder wet extraction techniques-ultrafiltration or salt extraction-dilutive precipitations-have been investigated to a lesser extent. The harsh conventional wet extraction, i.e. alkaline extraction-isoelectric precipitation, is widely employed for lentils and mungbean. Apart from extraction method, drying process, pH condition, and genetic makeup of the plants directly influence protein functional properties. Protein functional properties, including gelation, emulsification, water holding (WHC) and oil absorption capacities (OAC), and foaming of lentils and mungbean, are discussed to understand their potentiality in the development of meat analogs. Lentil protein exhibited comparable gelling, emulsifying, and superior foaming properties to pea and soy protein. Meanwhile, the gelling, WHC and OAC of mungbean proteins are comparable to soy. This review highlights the promising application of lentil and mungbean proteins as sustainable plant-based protein sources for human food applications.

English

Xanthomonas wilt of enset is a major bacterial disease affecting the entire enset-growing belt in the southern Ethiopian highlands, impacting food security and livelihoods of small-holder subsistence farmers. Through extensive interviews and field validation visits with 354 households covering 19 communities (kebeles), we show 70% of the farms to present current and past enset Xanthomonas wilt infections, with a median of 18% cumulative plant loss across affected years since disease appearance. Training by extension services proved critical for building up farmers’ knowledge on disease management, the effective implementation of disease management, and farmers’ persistence to continue with enset production even when dealing with widespread infestations. After receiving training, farmers were ten times more likely to implement targeted hygienic practices and only half as likely to implement non-recommended cultural practices. Nevertheless, training in disease management did not guarantee consistent implementation by farmers. Farmers remained reluctant to dispose of infected plants, a critical part of Xanthomonas wilt management. Moreover, farmers mostly applied disease management practices once infected plants are observed on the farm, but were unaware of preventive approaches. Extension services had also not reached all communities, with 64% of the households not having received training at the time of the survey. Key words: Disease management, Ethiopian highlands, farmer training, household surveys, Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum

English

Xanthomonas wilt of enset is a major bacterial disease affecting the entire enset-growing belt in the southern Ethiopian highlands, impacting food security and livelihoods of small-holder subsistence farmers. Through extensive interviews and field validation visits with 354 households covering 19 communities (kebeles), we show 70% of the farms to present current and past enset Xanthomonas wilt infections, with a median of 18% cumulative plant loss across affected years since disease appearance. Training by extension services proved critical for building up farmers’ knowledge on disease management, the effective implementation of disease management, and farmers’ persistence to continue with enset production even when dealing with widespread infestations. After receiving training, farmers were ten times more likely to implement targeted hygienic practices and only half as likely to implement non-recommended cultural practices. Nevertheless, training in disease management did not guarantee consistent implementation by farmers. Farmers remained reluctant to dispose of infected plants, a critical part of Xanthomonas wilt management. Moreover, farmers mostly applied disease management practices once infected plants are observed on the farm, but were unaware of preventive approaches. Extension services had also not reached all communities, with 64% of the households not having received training at the time of the survey. Key words: Disease management, Ethiopian highlands, farmer training, household surveys, Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum

Satellite-based multi-annual yield models for major food crops at the household field level for nutrition and health research: A case study from the Nouna HDSS, Burkina Faso

Increasing frequencies of climate change-induced extreme weather events like prolonged droughts pose significant challenges for small-scale subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, who rely on the yearly harvest by more than 80 % of their nutritional needs. However, we do not have a good understanding of yield estimates at the field and household level (with a mean field size of < 2 ha) to understand nutritional priorities in vulnerable communities due to their scarcity in the literature, particularly yield estimates that do not require re-collection of in-situ data. Statistical models for estimating regional food crop yields based on high-resolution satellite data at the field level may provide better insights into how to address health risks such as child malnutrition. Especially in low-resource contexts, where the burden is greatest and expected to worsen in future climate projections. Our study developed crop-specific, satellite-based yield models using a novel three-year data set of in-situ yield measurements as exemplified for a rural region in Burkina Faso. The aim of the model is to reduce the need for in-situ field data collection while still assuring accurate yield estimates at the field level. The model employed LASSO regression and was based on monthly vegetation index composites from Sentinel-2 and weekly accumulated Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) rainfall data. Our yield modeling results showed that there was less overfitting when there was more training data over three years that demonstrated a wider range of yields, which also led to better model fits. R² values ranged from 0.62 (Maize) to 0.3 (Sorghum) for the three-year yield models, with normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) values ranging from 12 % − 16 %. An additional plausibility check confirmed the validity of our models, as we compared the magnitude of our yield estimation with national yield statistics for Burkina Faso. We demonstrated that our models based on three years of in-situ data may capture some of the inter-annual variability in yields, which could be a step toward minimizing the necessity for in-situ measurements in the future. Our advances in predicting yield estimates at the field level enable a linkage between household-level yields, socioeconomic indicators, nutritional status of children, and the health status of the household members. A further application is linking high-resolution yield data to farmers’ productivity losses from increasing heat under climate change.

Declining agriculture in Garhwal Himalaya: Major drivers and implications

Subsistence agriculture—the cultivation of subsistence cereals including millets, oilseeds, and pulses is the major occupation and source of livelihood of people of the Garhwal region. Over time, the production and yield of subsistence agriculture have reduced drastically. This study examines the practices of subsistence agriculture, the major drivers of declining agriculture, and its implications on the livelihood of marginal farmers. Data were gathered from eight villages of four districts, using a household-level survey. A total of 376 households inhabit these villages. We have surveyed 207 households (55%), who were fully engaged in practicing subsistence agriculture, purposively. A structured questionnaire was constructed and the questions were asked from the heads of households on the area, production, and productivity of the principal crops during 2000–2020. Data were analyzed using statistical methods. This study depicted that traditional agriculture has been declining, as a 50% decrease in the area, production, and productivity of crops was noticed during the last 20 years. The decrease was noted mainly due to climate change, extreme geo-hydrological disasters, crops damaged by wildlife, increasing population, decreasing landholdings, low soil fertility, low output from arable land, mono-cropping, and a lack of use of modern technology. The exodus out-migration, land abandonment, and livelihood insecurity were noticed as the implications of declining subsistence agriculture.

How does conservation land tenure affect economic impacts of wildlife: An analysis of subsistence farmers and herders in Bhutan

Protected areas (PA) to conserve wildlife are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation but they can also result in increased human-wildlife conflict (HWC), which poses a serious challenge to jointly achieving sustainable development goals of food security and biodiversity conservation, particular in regions with high conservation values and subsistence farmers. In the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, expanding PAs and other conservation efforts have led to increased wildlife populations that are causing more damage to crop and livestock and impacting on the livelihoods of subsistence farmers and herders. In this study, we used a social-ecological systems framework to quantify the intensity this impact and associated economic losses with identified wildlife species and compared differences between livelihood types (crop farming versus livestock husbandry) and land tenure (inside versus outside protected areas). Results indicated that Meso-scale wildlife species that are not the focus of conservation caused higher economic losses. Approximately 43% of total economic loss through crop depredation was attributed to wild pig (Sus scrofa) and 56% of the total economic loss through livestock predation was caused by wild dogs (Cuon alpinus). Losses borne by respondents whose livelihoods depend mainly on livestock were significantly higher, with a mean loss equivalent to US$1328 per household per annum, than those depending on crop production (US$171 per household per annum). Economic losses incurred through crop and livestock depredation were significantly higher for the respondents residing inside PAs, which is attributed by those households to a perceived increase in wildlife populations because of conservation policies. Interventions for prevention and mitigation of these impacts should recognize these varying unintended effects of wildlife and be better targeted at groups living in different parts of the landscape. These include expanding compensation scheme to losses caused by wild dogs and pigs, supporting ecotourism ventures within PAs to diversify income options and introducing control measures for these animals.

Development of an abundance estimate for the eastern Bering Sea stock of beluga1 whales (Delphinapterus leucas)

The first dedicated aerial surveys for beluga whales in the Norton Sound/Yukon Delta region of Alaska were flown during May, June and September 1992. During May 1992 surveys, all of the survey area was covered with pack ice and only a few belugas were seen. In June 1992, many whales were seen in the region of Pastol Bay and the Yukon River Delta, with a few animals seen in eastern Norton Sound. In September 1992, whales were more dispersed and occurred both off the Yukon Delta and in coastal waters of northern Norton Sound. Based on those results, subsequent surveys were flown in June 1993–95 and 1999–2000. In all years except 1999 when there was extensive sea ice in the area, belugas were common off the Yukon Delta and in southern Norton Sound. In most years they were also seen in central Norton Sound. Density and abundance were estimated from the 2000 survey as it represented the most recent data and had the most complete and systematic coverage of the area. In June 2000, belugas were rare in the northern portion of Norton Sound, so the study area was reduced to central and southern Norton Sound and the Yukon Delta, which was divided into four strata by latitude. The density that was estimated with the model that received most Akaike Information Criterion support was 0.121 belugas km–2 and the number of belugas at the surface in the study area was estimated to be 3,497 (CV = 0.37). A generally accepted correction factor for availability of 2.0 was applied, resulting in an abundance estimate for the eastern Bering Sea beluga stock in June 2000 of 6,994 (95% confidence interval 3,162–15,472). This estimate is likely to be conservative. There are no previous abundance estimates for this region, so a population trend cannot be determined. The available evidence suggests that the current Alaska Native subsistence harvest from this stock is sustainable. Beluga consumption of prey populations is likely significant in the regional ecosystem and may have a particular impact on some stocks of Pacific salmon.

Motivations of Subsistence Farming in Hungary: Analysis of a Multi‐Factored Phenomenon☆

AbstractOur paper aims to explore the role of subsistence farming in Hungary by reviewing the literature, analyzing the primary data from a representative survey conducted in 2018 in Hungary and presenting two case‐studies. According to European and national‐level policy analysis, subsistence farming is a cornerstone of European agriculture, as it is a central element of a positive rural image. The paper is based on earlier theories on subsistence farming, and argues that it is worth analyzing the different factors influencing subsistence farming in order to better understand the motivations of participating in this kind of activity. The paper analyses the role of five different factors on subsistence farming: economic, societal, policy, discursive, and sustainability factors, and argues that, although all five factors are important in order to understand the phenomenon, economic and policy factors are the most important in this type of activity, while sustainability is almost imperceptible.

Focus on Empowering Rural Women and Improving Commercial Small-scale Subsistence Agriculture to Alleviate Poverty in Rural Papua New Guinea

Majority of indigenous people of Papua New Guinea live on subsistence farming practices to provide for their families. The research shows that women in rural areas play a paramount role through subsistence agriculture in sustaining livelihood. The subsistence agriculture has long been practiced in Papua New Guinea since prehistory and the women play key roles in selling surplus farm produces at local markets.

Long-term trends in human body size track regional variation in subsistence transitions and growth acceleration linked to dairying

Evidence for a reduction in stature between Mesolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers has been interpreted as reflective of declines in health, however, our current understanding of this trend fails to account for the complexity of cultural and dietary transitions or the possible causes of phenotypic change. The agricultural transition was extended in primary centers of domestication and abrupt in regions characterized by demic diffusion. In regions such as Northern Europe where foreign domesticates were difficult to establish, there is strong evidence for natural selection for lactase persistence in relation to dairying. We employ broad-scale analyses of diachronic variation in stature and body mass in the Levant, Europe, the Nile Valley, South Asia, and China, to test three hypotheses about the timing of subsistence shifts and human body size, that: 1) the adoption of agriculture led to a decrease in stature, 2) there were different trajectories in regions of in situ domestication or cultural diffusion of agriculture; and 3) increases in stature and body mass are observed in regions with evidence for selection for lactase persistence. Our results demonstrate that 1) decreases in stature preceded the origins of agriculture in some regions; 2) the Levant and China, regions of in situ domestication of species and an extended period of mixed foraging and agricultural subsistence, had stable stature and body mass over time; and 3) stature and body mass increases in Central and Northern Europe coincide with the timing of selective sweeps for lactase persistence, providing support for the "Lactase Growth Hypothesis."

The Cultural Identity of Mien Ethnic Group in a Digital Era

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Purpose: The study aimed to identify the cultural identity of the Mien ethnic group and their adaptation to dominant society.&#x0D; &#x0D; Theoretical Framework: The study was conducted physically at Mae Yao District of Chiang Rai Province, located in the northern part of Thailand.&#x0D; &#x0D; Methodology: The qualitative study employed Esser model of social integration. Primary data was collected from focus groups, in-depth interviews, on-site observations, and secondary data from related documents and research work.&#x0D; &#x0D; Findings: As part of Thailand's rural population, hill tribes were considered as vulnerable group of society, who mainly depends on slash and burn subsistence farming lifestyle with low-income employment, socially distanced, low education, and poverty. Through the Royal Project of King Rama IX initiatives, issues concerning hill tribe livelihood, including quality of life and cultural preservation have been addressed. &#x0D; &#x0D; Research, Practical &amp; Social Implications: Socio-economic status and socio-cultural mingling in dominant society for their livelihood are the most significant factors that consequently impact upon their thinking patterns of the individuals and community. Although technology such as mobile phones and the Internet has played an explicit role in the community today, preserving the traditional way of life without oblivion still exists. Digital culture therefore becomes an essential aspect of the community's way of life with the influence of digital media.&#x0D; &#x0D; Originality: This study provides important impacts to a better identification of the Mien ethnic group cultural and their adaptation to dominant society.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Sustainable development implications of human wildlife conflict: an analysis of subsistence farmers in Bhutan

ABSTRACT Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are part of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SD) that aim to eradicate poverty, achieve economic prosperity, gender equality, ensure social well-being, promote sustainable management and use of natural resources, and protect the Earth’s natural ecosystems. However, the occurrence of human–wildlife conflict (HWC) may impair SDGs to be achieved in developing regions where people and wildlife cooccur frequently. Surprisingly, there are few studies which have examined how HWC impedes achievement of SDGs. This paucity of information hinders the formulation and implementation of appropriate policy actions to achieve SDGs. We explored how HWC impacts on the livelihoods of rural communities in Bhutan through SD lens. We used a mixed method research approach and interviewed a stratified-random sample of 96 farmers from four different regions of Bhutan. Wildlife impacts are multidimensional and can inhibit achievement of several SDGs. All interviewees suffered crop and livestock depredations with substantial economic losses. These losses were higher for female-headed households and those with low asset holding, compounding their vulnerability. Among the HWC adaptation measures, adopted guarding, vigilant livestock herding, and electric fences were perceived effective but were predominantly applied by households in high asset class. Policy actions should focus on female-headed households and those families with lower asset category to reduce negative impacts of human wildlife interactions.

Why and how do farmers’ organizations get involved in the promotion of agroecological techniques? Insights from Burkina Faso

ABSTRACT Agroecological techniques (AET) have been recognized by many farmers, NGOs, and farmers’ organizations (FOs) as a promising solution for slowing down the persistent soil fertility degradation in West African drylands. In the context of Burkina, the promotion of AET is the result of the interactions between NGOs and farmers’ knowledge through the intermediation of FOs. Although numerous studies have highlighted the instrumental role of FOs in the dissemination of AET in Burkina, there are limited studies focusing on the historical dynamic of FOs’ involvement in the promotion of agroecology. To address this gap, this study aims to answer the following questions: why and how do FOs get involved in the promotion of agroecological techniques, and how do they define the term agroecology or agroecological techniques? A multiple case study approach was used to provide the answer to these questions. The results from the case studies reveal that the FOs’ promotion of AET is largely connected to their aim of fulfilling one of the following three goals: enhancing the productivity of commercial crops; improving the resilience of subsistence farmers; enhancing both the productivity of commercial crops and the resilience of subsistence farmers. The quest to achieve these goals explained their constant interaction with external partners to get the necessary assistance for the provision of agroecological support services to their farmers. Furthermore, the results of the study also reveal that the Farmers’ Organizations’ definitions of agroecology or agroecological terms are mostly associated with the interpretation of agroecology as a collective practice encompassing both economic and ecological aspects of Burkinabè agriculture. A broader insight is that while FOs can fulfill important roles in agroecology transitions this comes with diverse interpretations of agroecology, in which FOs facilitate the hybridization of existing farmers ’practices with those proposed by external actors. The study hence shows the complexity related to the local actors’ definitions of agroecological terms and the broader implication is that in the debate on agroecology transitions, these blended or hybrid forms of agroecology should receive more attention. Areas for future research include drivers of FOs choice making processes in how they approach agroecology, and subsequently the influence of FOs on the drivers of farmers’ decisions toward AET.

Assessing impact of agroecological interventions in Niger through remotely sensed changes in vegetation

Water scarcity is a major challenge in the Sahel region of West Africa. Water scarcity in combination with prevalent soil degradation has severely reduced the land productivity in the region. The decrease in resiliency of food security systems of marginalized population has huge societal implications which often leads to mass migrations and conflicts. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and development organizations have made major investments in the Sahel to improve resilience through land rehabilitation activities in recent years. To help restore degraded lands at the farm level, the World Food Programme (WFP) with assistance from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance supported the construction of water and soil retention structures called half-moons. The vegetation growing in the half-moons is vitally important to increase agricultural productivity and feed animals, a critical element of sustainable food security in the region. This paper investigates the effectiveness of interventions at 18 WFP sites in southern Niger using vegetative greenness observations from the Landsat 7 satellite. The pre - and post-intervention analysis shows that vegetation greenness after the half-moon intervention was nearly 50% higher than in the pre-intervention years. The vegetation in the intervened area was more than 25% greener than the nearby control area. Together, the results indicate that the half-moons are effective adaptations to the traditional land management systems to increase agricultural production in arid ecosystems, which is evident through improved vegetation conditions in southern Niger. The analysis shows that the improvement brought by the interventions continue to provide the benefits. Continued application of these adaptation techniques on a larger scale will increase agricultural production and build resilience to drought for subsistence farmers in West Africa. Quantifiable increase in efficacy of local-scale land and water management techniques, and the resulting jump in large-scale investments to scale similar efforts will help farmers enhance their resiliency in a sustainable manner will lead to a reduction in food security shortages.

Conjuring carbon: Resource materialities in Timor-Leste

In this paper, we trace the social and material effects of a carbon verification encounter in Timor-Leste. Foregrounding the relational historicity of these resource materialities, we inquire into the disorientating but potentially generative place-based effects of carbon offsetting. We unpack carbon's elusive and unruly materiality through our participation in a verification event connected to a reforestation and carbon-offsetting program that encourages individuals and organisations from Australia to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon credits from subsistence farmers in Timor-Leste. We interpret this making, or conjuring, of carbon through interactions between technical experts, program managers, staff, and participants over a 4-day audit of the program and, with the benefit of subsequent interviews with farmers, examine how the opacity of the carbon credit's materiality and its measurement leads to community scepticism and demands for greater methodological clarity and oversight. At the same time, we take issue with critics of market-based conservation programs who assert that carbon offsetting leads inevitably to severe adverse impacts for local communities. Activating a generative understanding of the economic logics of ‘commodity indigenisation’ through attention to the ‘cultural biographies’ or life cycle of things, we evidence fluid movements: complex socio-natural relations and moral economies that humanise nature to reveal and potentially reconfigure the otherwise alienating effects of carbon commodities and their socio-natural technical complex.