| 1. |
- Bartholdson, Örjan, et al.
(author)
-
Does paying pay off? : paying for ecosystem services and exploring alternative possibilities
- 2012
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The ongoing degradation of ecosystems threaten future food production and the international community thus urgently has to plan for how to secure fundamental life-support services for the future, so called ecosystem services (ES). Examples of such ES are climate regulation, nutrient cycles, fresh water provision, etc.This report is focused on two distinct strategies to make land users in tropical rainforest areas continue to provide ecosystem services. The first approach, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), is an economic instrument designed at global and national levels. Several PES schemes are currently implemented in a global context where increasing human demands for food, fibre and fuel are accelerating competition for land. The overall aim of the PES projects covered by this report is to lower the emission of green house gas on national and global levels and they are especially directed towards forest areas. The PES projects specify that specific rural groups are paid if they agree to protect, manage or restore the ecosystem service provisioning system within their forest territories. This report highlights that many PES initiatives are being implemented with a ‘conservation perspective’, rather than seeing ecosystem services as integrated with production and livelihoods. There are also alternative strategies to manage ecosystem services. In this report we put an emphasis on an approach where production and conservation are planned for within the same landscape and production systems. Many smallholders already integrate and maintain ecosystem services in their agricultural/forest production systems in a long-term perspective, while producing food, fibre and fuel for the households’ own consumption as well as for sale. In such a system, the local communities are totally dependent on the ecosystem services to re-generate conditions for their agricultural production and/or forest extraction. The focus in such farming-forestry systems, using little or no inputs, which are totally dependent on renewable resources, is on how to increase agricultural/forest production by supporting local ecosystem services, such as soil fertility and structure, pollination, micro climate, biological control of crop pests, etc. The ecosystem services functions, such as carbon sequestration, then emerge as a ‘by-product’ out of these production systems. Increased soil humus in the soil and biomass accumulation are other examples of such ‘by-products’. We want to illustrate potentials and challenges with the aforementioned two approaches to secure ecosystem provisions, and how they are articulated within their specific contexts. This report explores these two approaches by examining case-studies in tropical forest areas in Peru, Brazil, Tanzania and Vietnam, as well as the experiences of EU-designed PES schemes for subsidies/support so as to achieve environmental protection in Sweden.
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| 2. |
- Bartholdson, Örjan, et al.
(author)
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Is REDD plus More of an Institutional Affair than a Market Process? The Concealed Social and Cultural Consequences of an Ongoing REDD plus Project in Kolo Hills, Tanzania
- 2019
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In: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The neo-liberal rationale behind REDD programs aims to create a market for common resources, with monetary payment incentives as the most important driver for conservation initiatives. In reality, however, the chain of implementation from UN to village, encompassing numerous processes of design, planning, and practices at distinct levels and contexts, is more institutional and political than economic. This research project follows the planning and implementation process of a REDD+ project in the Kolo Hills, Tanzania. The analysis showed that the project's main objectives were poorly understood by the men and women of the target group, who interpreted it as yet another top-down postcolonial project. The target group's interpretations also made them act in accordance with their own cultural rationality and logic of practice and not as the donors and project implementers had assumed. The project objectives of the payment system, consciousness awareness and engagement of the target population, thus, seem to have failed, despite the donors' and implementers' claim of success.
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| 3. |
- Egerlid, Josefin, et al.
(author)
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Forest conservation versus indigenous forest territory rights in the Peruvian Amazon : the case of the Kechwa-Lamas village Alto Huaja and the roles of external actors
- 2016
-
In: International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. - 1462-4605 .- 1741-5004. ; 12, s. 381-405
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The current competition for land in the Peruvian Amazon is a challenge to indigenous communities without legal ownership of their customary lands. This study analyses the strategies of Alto Huaja, a Kechwa-Lamas village in the region of San Martín, to gain possession over a forest area which they consider their ancestral territory. It explores how this struggle is influenced by external actors and ideas of how indigenous territories should be governed. Through a governmentality lens, we explore two tenure arrangements under discussion in San Martín - conservation concession and title - their rationales and their possible consequences for Alto Huaja. Data were collected through observation in Alto Huaja and interviews with nine organisations (governmental, non-governmental and indigenous), connected to Alto Huaja. Findings suggest that Kechwa-Lamas' control over their ancestral lands is becoming more tied to doing conservation than gaining rights as indigenous peoples. This could turn them from farmers to conservationists.
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| 4. |
- Egerlid, Josefin, et al.
(author)
-
Forest conservation versus indigenous forest territory rights in the Peruvian Amazon: the case of the Kechwa-Lamas village Alto Huaja and the roles of external actors
- 2016
-
In: International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. - 1462-4605 .- 1741-5004. ; 12, s. 381-405
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The current competition for land in the Peruvian Amazon is a challenge to indigenous communities without legal ownership of their customary lands. This study analyses the strategies of Alto Huaja, a Kechwa-Lamas village in the region of San Martín, to gain possession over a forest area which they consider their ancestral territory. It explores how this struggle is influenced by external actors and ideas of how indigenous territories should be governed. Through a governmentality lens, we explore two tenure arrangements under discussion in San Martín - conservation concession and title - their rationales and their possible consequences for Alto Huaja. Data were collected through observation in Alto Huaja and interviews with nine organisations (governmental, non-governmental and indigenous), connected to Alto Huaja. Findings suggest that Kechwa-Lamas' control over their ancestral lands is becoming more tied to doing conservation than gaining rights as indigenous peoples. This could turn them from farmers to conservationists.
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| 5. |
- Eksvärd, Karin, et al.
(author)
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From change to transition? Learning from environmental protection activities in Sweden
- 2018
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In: Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2168-3565 .- 2168-3573. ; 42, s. 189-209
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Swedish government accepts in principle that agriculture needs to move from being an activity that contributes to humankind's excess demand on the planet to become an activity that regenerates ecosystem services. The major tool for development of European agriculture is the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU implemented in the member rural development programs (RDP). Swedish farmers are dependent on the subsidies and payments of the RDP yet many are very critical of the program, especially those with animals and semi-natural pastures. A study based on semi-structured interviews with farmers in three districts in Sweden reveals the main reasons for their criticism to be: they feel trapped by regulations, powerless with respect to the controlling agency and lacking control of their finances. The study also identifies factors in the program that hinder the implementation of the sustainability goals of the CAP and RDP. The article recommends the adoption of guiding principles for facilitating transitions toward sustainable agriculture and emerging solutions to the challenges farmers experience.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Engström, Linda, et al.
(author)
-
Producing Feedstock for Biofuels : Land-Use and Local Environmental Impacts
- 2011
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Feedstock production and conversion to biofuels can affect the local environment in many different ways. Given that biofuels presently mostly are produced from conventional food crops, impacts resemble those characterising the present day agriculture. These depend on the crops produced, the production systems employed, governance conditions, and local environmental conditions. In the main report, production system characteristics and current documented environmental impacts related to e.g. air and water quality and biodiversity – associated with the production of relevant biofuel crops are presented in each country land-use profile
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| 8. |
- Fischer, Harry, et al.
(author)
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Recognizing the equity implications of restoration priority maps
- 2022
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In: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9326. ; 17
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A growing number of studies seek to identify global priority areas for conservation and restoration. These studies often produce maps that highlight the benefits of concentrating such activity in the tropics. However, the potential equity implications of using these prioritization exercises to guide global policy are less often explored and articulated. We highlight those equity issues by examining a widely publicized restoration priority map as an illustrative case. This map is based on a prioritization analysis that sought to identify places where restoration of agricultural land might provide the greatest biodiversity and carbon sequestration benefits at the lowest cost. First, we calculate the proportion of agricultural land in countries around the world that the map classifies as a top 15% restoration priority. A regression analysis shows that this map prioritizes restoration in countries where displacing agriculture may be most detrimental to livelihoods: countries that are poorer, more populated, more economically unequal, less food secure, and that employ more people in agriculture. Second, we show through another regression analysis that a similar pattern appears sub-nationally within the tropics: 5 km x 5 km parcels of land in the tropics that are less economically developed or more populated are more likely to be top 15% restoration priorities. In other words, equity concerns persist at a subnational scale even after putting aside comparisons between the tropics and the Global North. Restorative activity may be beneficial or harmful to local livelihoods depending on its conceptualization, implementation, and management. Our findings underline a need for prioritization exercises to better attend to the risks of concentrating potentially negative livelihood impacts in vulnerable regions. We join other scholars calling for greater integration of social data into restoration science.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Khatri Bahadur, Dil, et al.
(author)
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Reterritorialization of community forestry: Scientific forest management for commercialization in Nepal.
- 2022
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In: Journal of Political Ecology. - : University of Arizona. - 1073-0451. ; 29, s. 455-474
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nepal's community forestry is an example of a decentralized, participatory and autonomous development model. However, recent community forestry practices informed by the concept of scientific forestry in resource-rich and commercially lucrative Terai regions of Nepal have reversed community forestry gains. Scientific forestry, enforced through the Department of Forest has reproduced frontier power dynamics creating reterritorialization of community forestry through commercialization. Discouraging subsistence utilization and increasing commodification of high-value timber resources have been crucial in reconfiguring forest authority and territorial control. Moreover, the Scientific Forestry Programs have informally institutionalized rent-seeking practices at the local level. A local level, power nexus has developed among forest officials, contractors and community elites that systematically undermine local participation, allocation of resources for subsistence livelihoods and local autonomy. In effect, scientific forestry is recentralizing forest authority by legitimizing territorial control and the elite accumulation of benefits.
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| 11. |
- Khatri Bahadur, Dil, et al.
(author)
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Shifting regimes of management and uses of forests: What might REDD plus implementation mean for community forestry? Evidence from Nepal
- 2018
-
In: Forest Policy and Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1389-9341 .- 1872-7050. ; 92, s. 1-10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- At a time when many developing countries are preparing to implement REDD + , there is debate on the possible implications for existing community forestry (CF) governance. Drawing on a REDD+ pilot undertaken in Nepal, this paper seeks to investigate how REDD + has been downscaled into the community forestry context and with what implications for CF governance. The analysis is guided by three research questions: how are the objectives and discourses underpinning REDD + translated into actions at the local level; how do the proponents of REDD + make the problems and solutions technical in order to design the interventions; and what are the implications of REDD + design for CF governance and what changes in rules and practices on forest management might result from these? The study comprised a review of the pilot project documentation and field study. In-depth interviews, focused group discussions and observations were conducted with forest user groups both within and outside the REDD + pilot area. Findings indicate that the pilot design and implementation was essentially to show that REDD + could be implemented in CF and focused on developing a carbon monitoring mechanism which local people could be engaged in. The community forest user groups (CFUG) in the pilot sites have increased forest surveillance and tightened the rules regarding certain uses of forests. We argue that the technical and financial logic of REDD + have had implications for CF governance, risks of co-opting local voices and has contributed to an ongoing commercialisation of community forests, at the cost of the livelihoods of the poorest people.
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| 12. |
- Khatri, Dil, et al.
(author)
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Examining forest transition and collective action in Nepal's community forestry
- 2023
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In: Land Use Policy. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 134
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nepal is going through a major socio-economic transition in rural areas and hence in forest management practices, leading to changes in and evolution of new forest-people relationships. Community forests are experiencing an ecological transition resulting a new pattern of growth, regeneration and diversity in forest composition. The ecological transition of forest corresponds to the shifting local collective actions in community forestry which are emerging from the new socio-economic dynamics in rural areas such as income diversification, declining subsistence utilization of forest resources and outmigration of the rural population. However, these changes are highly differentiated and variable. The hilly areas are experiencing remarkable forest cover changes than in the lowlands of Terai. In this paper, we examine the evolving intersection between new forest transition and community collective action in Nepal. We draw our analysis on the comparative case study of four villages from three different ecological regions. Our findings show that the forest transition is not static, but a dynamic process shaped by diverse local and external factors. Further, declining utilization of forests for subsistence uses has led to a new dynamic in community collective action which has played a central role in driving forest transition. Community participation in forest management is also declining. Hence, we call for reconceptualizing local collective action in this changed context which can help revise forest policies and reimagine forest institutions that can better respond to the socio-economic changes of the mountain landscape and revitalize local collective actions.
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| 13. |
- Khatri, Dil, et al.
(author)
-
Why is farming important for rural livelihood security in the Global South? COVID-19 and changing rural livelihoods in Nepal’s mid-hills
- 2023
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In: Frontiers in Human Dynamics. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2673-2726. ; 5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over the last three decades, Nepal has experienced a rapid transition in rural livelihoods, from largely subsistence farming to more diversified off-farm employment and remittances. Despite this, subsistence farming continues to be a central part of rural production. Why does farming persist in the face of other, more remunerative, off-farm employment options? In this article we argue that subsistence food production continues to be important for rural livelihood security by providing food needs from farming, thus helping households to cope with uncertainties in off-farm employment and international labor migration. Taking the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of a high level of livelihood stress, the paper provides insights and further explanations on the logic of maintaining subsistence food production as part of rural households' livelihood security. Drawing on in-depth qualitative study, complemented with a quantitative survey from eight villages in rural Nepal, we examine the impact of the pandemic on farming and off-farm activities and explore the reasons behind peoples' choice of livelihood strategies and how these vary between different social groups. We show that there was only limited impact of the dramatic disruptions caused by the global pandemic on subsistence farming, however it brought substantial challenges for emerging semi-commercial farming and off-farm incomes, including both local and migratory wage labor. During the pandemic, people increased their reliance on locally produced food, and subsistence farming served as a critical safety net. Our analysis underscores the continued importance of subsistence production amidst contemporary shifts toward off-farm employment among rural households. We also find a growing interest in semi-commercial farming among farmers with better access to land who seek state support to develop such production. This suggests that it is important for agricultural development policy to recognize and support subsistence farming alongside emerging commercial agriculture production as an integral foundation of future farming and rural livelihood security.
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| 14. |
- Lindell, Lina, et al.
(author)
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Farmers´(local and colonists) perceptions of environmental changes in the forest frontier of the upper Amazon, Peru
- 2014
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In: International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. - 1462-4605 .- 1741-5004. ; 10:4, s. 394-418
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amazon ecosystem degradation profoundly impacts life supporting processes of global importance such as climate regulation, as well as localconditions for livelihoods. In Peru’s highland jungle, an expanding deforestationfront of forest conversion to agriculture has vastly transformed the landscape.Small-scale farming, the main driver of forest degradation, and consequently household natural resource management affect ecosystem functionality.To investigate farmers’ attitudes and priorities to services provided by the ecosystems (ES) we interviewed 51 farmers, both local and colonists. They strongly agreed that over the last three decades, local conditions for livelihoods have deteriorated following forest degradation and climate change. The latterwas reported the primary contributor to an impaired life quality and their greatest concern. Overall, local farmers perceived greater than did colonists who were also more positive towards intensive agricultureand forestry. This should be considered in environmental conservation efforts in the upper Amazon.
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| 15. |
- Marquardt, Kristina
(author)
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Comparative assessment of woody species diversity, structure and carbon stock of PFM and Non-PFM forests and its implication for REDD+ in Ethiopia
- 2024
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In: Trees, Forests and People. - 2666-7193. ; 16
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Maintaining forest biodiversity and carbon sequestration potential of forest resources enhances the provision capacity of forest ecosystem services. Experience from around the world and in Ethiopia has shown that shifting forest management from state-centred to community-centred arrangement can result in a better forest stock. Therefore, this study examined the status of woody species diversity, regeneration and total living biomass carbon stock of forests under participatory forest management (PFM) and the adjacent state managed nonparticipatory forest management (Non-PFM) in South eastern Ethiopia and implications to REDD+. Data were collected from 89 (44 PFM and 45 Non-PFM) nested circular plots from four PFM and three Non-PFM selected forest sites with transects laid systematically. Tree DBH and height were measured, the number of saplings, seedlings, mature trees were counted and species names were recorded. Woody species diversity was estimated using shannon, simpson, and evenness diversity indices. A total of 29 and 23 woody species were recorded in PFM and Non-PFM forests, respectively. Woody species diversity did not show significant difference between PFM and Non-PFM forests but it was relatively higher in PFM forest. The density per hectare of seedlings, sapling and mature trees were significantly greater in PFM forest than in Non-PFM forest. The mean aboveground biomass carbon stock of PFM forest (225.50 +/- 26.54) was significantly greater than that of the Non-PFM (156.24 +/- 15.72) forest. Hence, managing forests through participatory approaches contributes to the enhancement of sustainable management and climate change mitigation potentials through reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation.
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| 16. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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De-agrarianisation and re-agrarianisation in patches: understanding microlevel land use change processes in Nepalese smallholder landscapes
- 2024
-
In: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods. - 1472-8028. ; 33, s. 1-22
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper investigates the ongoing reproduction crisis in Nepal. We utilize farmer context-specific actions of ‘hanging in’, ‘stepping out’ and ‘stepping up’ to unpack the pathways of de-activation, de-agrarianisation and re-agrarianisation in four spatially and socially differentiated landscapes. We detail a continuum of land use and labour use intensity, the microlevel variations and repertoires of actions in relation to landscape, shrinking farm sizes, labour shortages, forest expansion and increasing wildlife encroachment. The analysis focuses on specific landscape and social contexts and shows how smallholders are fine-tuning agricultural practices to meet subsistence needs. But account also must be taken of ecological variability and socially differentiated access to land to understand how households allocate labour between different land uses and between farm and off-farm activities. Household survival depends as much on the allocation of scarce labour resources as on that of scarce land. It suggests that household rather than just land has become a key unit of production.
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| 17. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Farmer perspectives on introducing perennial cereal in Swedish farming systems: A sustainability analysis of plant traits, farm management, and ecological implications
- 2016
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In: Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2168-3565 .- 2168-3573. ; 40, s. 432-450
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Agriculture is currently dominated by annual crops. A shift from annual to perennial cereals has been suggested as a way to improve the sustainability of agriculture. Such a shift may have impacts at multiple levels, from the field, to the farm, and the landscape. With a focus on Swedish farm production systems, farmers' views on the potential risks and possibilities of cultivating perennial cereals are discussed in light of the available knowledge regarding plant traits and ecological implications of perennial systems. Farmer interviews showed that potential changes in agricultural sustainability, if perennial cereals were to be introduced, are highly complex, and context specific. Perennial cereals could be part of a transition toward a more sustainable agriculture depending on how they are used in the local farming system and in the larger landscape. Efforts to increase the use of perennial crops require linking specific plant traits of the perennial crop to the properties of the farming systems where these crops would be employed.
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| 18. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Farmers facing rapid agricultural land condition changes in two villages in the Upper Amazon, Peru: can action learning contribue to resilience?
- 2009
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In: International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. - 1462-4605 .- 1741-5004. ; 8, s. 457-483
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The article presents findings of local experimentation for managing land degradation problems in swidden farming, and the institutional setting for such experimental activities within a resilience theory framework. By using action research (AR) methodology, which included in-depth interviews and joint field experiments, the research process facilitated collective learning related to land degradation management. Framed by a local institution (choba choba), learning situations of field experimentation were created in order to speed up the joint learning process between farmers, a local NGO and researchers. The authors argue that AR, as methodology, not only enhances contextual learning processes by working within farmers’ existing institutional framework for learning, but also has the advantage of integrating local and scientific knowledge into a joint learning process. AR methodology can therefore be one answer to the question of ‘how’ to build up and maintain resilience of an agricultural system, particularly its adaptive capacity
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| 19. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Farmers' Perspectives on Vital Soil-related Ecosystem Services in Intensive Swidden Farming Systems in the Peruvian Amazon
- 2013
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In: Human Ecology. - : Springer. - 0300-7839 .- 1572-9915. ; 41:1, s. 139-151
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A growing dilemma is how to conserve Amazonian forest while allowing local people to secure their livelihoods. Small-scale swidden farming in Amazonia is entirely dependent on the continued provision of ecosystem services (ES) that generate the conditions for agriculture. This study identified soil-related ES needed for, and enhanced by, productive swidden systems from the farmer's perspective. Workshops in six farming communities in northeastern Peru discussed various land uses, swidden systems that continue to be productive, and swidden systems on degraded land. The participating farmers noted changes in their production systems and described the ES (or lack thereof) in terms of soil quality, crop production quantity and quality, burning practices, forest regeneration, and farming skill. The central elements described in farmers' own strategies for managing soil-related ES were fallow management for biomass production and crop diversity, factors identified as central to future ES management work in established agricultural areas in Amazonia.
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| 20. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Forest Dynamics in the Peruvian Amazon: Understanding Processes of Change
- 2019
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In: Small-Scale Forestry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1873-7617 .- 1873-7854. ; 18, s. 81-104
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Peruvian government seeks to stop deforestation in its primary forest in the Amazon. It alleges that the main culprit of deforestation is smallholders who practice swidden farming. However, this is a simplified view, concealing the main reasons for deforestation and the complexity of land use changes. By studying land and forest use through the lens of the indigenous Kechwa-Lamas people, who live along forest covered mountain slopes in the region San Martin, we attempt to show the complex and intertwined reasons for deforestation, as well as how the indigenous people try to cope with this development. We identify and discuss three ideal types of land usethe swidden and tree based systems of the Kechwa-Lamas people, agricultural intensification practices (particularly perennial cash crops), and state conservation approaches. In practice these uses overlap spatially and have synergistic and antagonistic aspects. Kechwa-Lamas may clear land for tree cash crops, but they also manage forests and seek to conserve them for particular needs. Migrants from the Andes clear forests to plant perennial crops, penetrating the ancestral territories of the Kechwa-Lamas, while large scale capital intensive agriculture often intrudes into primary forest and jeopardizes existing subsistence systems. The opening up of forest areas in San Martin and its gradual integration into the nation's market economy, together with the local government's division of the region into zones intended for different purposes, have had both intended and unintended consequences. There is a need to develop a more nuanced understanding of the forms and complexity of forests and their transitions, particularly where secondary and managed forests replace previous rainforest areas. The findings draw on field observations and interviews with households, key NGO informants and a detailed case study of 13 Kechwa-Lamas villages.
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| 21. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Improved fallows : A case study of an adaptive response in Amazonian swidden farming systems
- 2013
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In: Agriculture and Human Values. - : Springer. - 0889-048X .- 1572-8366. ; 30:3, s. 417-428
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many smallholders in the Amazon employ swidden (slash-and-burn) farming systems in which forest or forest fallows are the primary source of natural soil enrichment. With decreasing opportunities to claim natural forests for agriculture and shrinking landholdings, rotational agriculture on smaller holdings allows insufficient time for fallow to regenerate naturally into secondary forest. This case study examines how Peruvian farmers use "improved fallows" as an adaptive response to a situation of decreasing soil fertility and how the farmers describe the rationale underlying the various actions taken in these modified fallow systems. The results indicate that farmers establish improved fallows using contextual ecological knowledge and various techniques to introduce a large diversity of tree species. This practice is also used to restore degraded land to agricultural production. The tasks of maintaining productivity on agricultural land and reforesting degraded areas is becoming increasingly urgent in the Amazon, making agricultural practices that involve reforestation and tree management highly relevant. Since swidden farming systems are the basis for the livelihoods of most Amazon smallholders, good farming practices elaborated by swidden farmers are important for sustainable small-scale family farming systems in the Amazon.
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Learning through feedback in the field Reflective learning in a NGO in the Peruvian Amazon
- 2010
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In: Action Research. - : SAGE Publications. - 1476-7503 .- 1741-2617. ; 8, s. 29-51
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The article discusses an action research project conducted in the Upper Amazon region of Peru that focused on the working approach of a NGO partner called PRADERA. In its land management projects PRADERA's working approach was characterized by a close collaboration with farmers. Its emphasis was on grasping the farmers' perspective on agriculture, targeting of local institutions in the villages as natural arenas for learning, and including topics in their analysis such as culture and worldview; this is analyzed through the framework of a reflective learning organization. The organization's capacity for learning is described as consisting of single-, double- and the possibility of triple-loop learning. During our collaboration with PRADERA, though we did not find established internal arrangements that could foster a triple-loop learning process, incipient signs were noted of space and potential which could favor deeper levels of learning. The importance of deeper levels of learning in the work of small highly action oriented NGOs such as PRADERA that act as a bridge between local farmers and the outside world, and how action research methodology can be a tool for developing reflectivity within such an organization, are discussed.
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| 24. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Re-reading Nepalese landscapes: labour, water, farming patches and trees
- 2020
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In: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1472-8028 .- 2164-3075. ; 29, s. 238-259
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper we use a patches approach to study changes in local land-use practices in response to constraints of labour and the increasing effects of climate change. Drawing on a mix of different participatory exercises and in-depth interviews we describe five categories of land use patches in two contrasting study areas in Nepal. We examine how decreasing access to land, labour and water generate socially differentiated local landscapes. Our findings point toward adaptive land-use responses that secure a subsistence production, encourage close integration between crop and tree land practices, but are supported by a remittance economy. This logic of local land use is not recognised by either agricultural or forestry institutions. We argue that an ongoing debate on land abandonment in Nepal is an example of how narrow sectoral understandings fail to comprehend adaptation practices in a complex landscape system.
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| 25. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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REDD+, forest transition, agrarian change and ecosystem services in the hills of Nepal
- 2016
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In: Human Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0300-7839 .- 1572-9915. ; 44, s. 229-244
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The REDD+ literature in Nepal in its assessment of the likely impacts of REDD+ has paid little attention to the drivers behind the increasing forest cover and the changing role of forests in Nepal's rural economy. This paper explores how changes in the agrarian economy in the Nepalese Mid-Hills have had locally specific effects on forest area, agricultural practices and ecosystem service (ES) provision and use. The contribution of agriculture to rural livelihoods has declined in many locations, and in parallel, the demands on community forests have changed. However, pockets of subsistence agriculture are likely to remain in the hills and these will remain dependent on forest-related ES provision. REDD+'s formulaic approach to forests and carbon sequestration fails to address the question of how forests in different contexts can support sustainable agriculture. The findings draw on field observation and interviews with officials and organisations, forest user groups, forest users and small-scale farmers in Dolakha and Chitwan districts.
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| 26. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Small-scale Farmers' Land Management Strategies in the Upper Amazon: an Action Research Case Study
- 2010
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In: Interciencia -Caracas-. - 0378-1844. ; 35, s. 421-429
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Local agricultural knowledge in the Amazon and its processes of experimentation and diffusion continues to receive scant attention from researchers despite its growing regional importance. This case study has documented and evaluated the broad variety of land management activities which small-scale farmers perform in the Peruvian Upper Amazon in terms of slope-, fallow-, fire‑, weed- and agro-biodiversity management. The research shows that local non-indigenous farmers are testing different strategies in order to handle their situation of erosion and land degradation, and that these land management techniques are relevant from a larger land management perspective. The research also shows that farmers prefer to re-direct soil management related questions to a “forest perspective”, that is, considering the spatial and temporal dynamics of agriculture as related to fallowing cycles and spatial rotation of gardens. This highlights the importance of reflecting on the farmers’ point of departure when talking about agriculture and soil. The conception of soils as a property of the forest, and forest management as the driver of the forest-soil complex, has important implications on how to develop land management processes in the region. The action research approach used in the study strongly supports participatory methods and local, contextually adapted, knowledge and skills in land management programs
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| 27. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Structural transformation of grain farms: effects on farm management and the need for societal environmental solutions
- 2015
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The structural transformation of farms is arapidly on-going process in Sweden; farms enlarge their holdings of arable land and animals, a process resulting in a smaller number of farmers managing an increasingly specialised production. Through interviewswith farmers in central Sweden we explore how they experience this change, focusing on issues of farm management and how farmers conceptualise ecosystem services on their farms, as well as howthey respond to changing agricultural policies and environmental policies. Our results show that grain production is increasingly arranged around the logistic of efficient machinery use, whereas less consideration is taken to maintaining diverse crop rotation schemes. As most grain growers have no animal production and sell not only the grain but also straw,there is a general situation with less organic input tothe soil than previously on these large farms. The ecological effects on humus content, soil structure and soil biodiversity in a long time perspective is clear to the farmers and in some cases already noticeable.Some farmers try to deal with this by changing land preparation techniques but also argue that societal systems for nutrient and energy management e.g. sludge as manure, growing grass for biogas etc. is necessary. We conclude that land use plans on a landscape level, planning for a more inter-connected designed flow of nutrients and energy between farms and towns will be necessary to sustain soil qualityand thereby up-keep production and tackle the negative environmental effects of large-scale grain farms.
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| 28. |
- Marquardt, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Towards a Deeper Understanding of Agricultural Production Systems in Sweden – Linking Farmer’s Logics with Environmental Consequences and the Landscape
- 2022
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In: Rural Landscapes. - : Stockholm University Press. - 2002-0104. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Farm restructuring is a continuous on-going process supported by national agricultural policy in Sweden; while striving for more efficient farms in terms of labor and yields, farms enlarge their holdings of arable land and animals. The environmental consequences of more intensive land uses have in turn stimulated environmental policies to deal with negative environmental consequences. In this paper we argue that an underlying problem with both of these policy approaches is that they primarily emphasize specific components of farms and fail to see the farm as an interconnected system. In this paper we therefore focus on the farm as a ‘system’ and on the systemic role of farming in the broader landscape. We develop a theoretical framework of farming logics which help to better understand agricultural production systems. Drawing on 34 semi-structured interviews with farmers, we divide the farms into three farming logic categories: I) ‘production vanguards’; II) ‘landscape stewards’; and III) ‘environmental vanguards’. We use these categories to analyze the role of key aspects such as size, intensity of production, specialisation, how farmer preferences and knowledge influence land use systems, and interactions of these with the local landscape. The findings show how farms that on the one hand share some basic characteristics can display quite different farming logics and vice versa. We argue that these farming logics offer a potentially positive diversity in farming approaches, with complementary and mutually dependent roles in Sweden’s overall food system.
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| 29. |
- Pain, Adam, et al.
(author)
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Secondary Forests and Agrarian Transitions: Insights from Nepal and Peru
- 2021
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In: Human Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0300-7839 .- 1572-9915. ; 49, s. 249-258
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We provide an analytical contrast of the dynamics of secondary forest regeneration in Nepal and Peru framed by a set of common themes: land access, boundaries, territories, and rights, seemingly more secure in Nepal than Peru; processes of agrarian change and their consequences for forest-agriculture interactions and the role of secondary forest in the landscape, more marked in Peru, where San Martin is experiencing apparent agricultural intensification, than in Nepal; and finally processes of social differentiation that have consequences for different social groups, livelihood construction and their engagement with trees, common to both countries. These themes address the broader issue of the necessary conditions for secondary forest regeneration and the extent to which the rights and livelihood benefits of those actively managing it are secured.
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| 30. |
- Pain, Adam, et al.
(author)
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What Is Secondary about Secondary Tropical Forest? Rethinking Forest Landscapes
- 2020
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In: Human Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0300-7839 .- 1572-9915. ; 49, s. 239-247
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Forests have long been locations of contestation between people and state bureaucracies, and among the knowledge frameworks of local users, foresters, ecologists, and conservationists. An essential framing of the debate has been between the categories of primary and secondary forest. In this introduction to a collection of papers that address the questions of what basis, in what sense, and for whom primary forest is 'primary' and secondary forest is 'secondary,' and whether these are useful distinctions, we outline this debate and propose a new conceptual model that departs from the simple binary of primary and secondary forests. Rather, we propose that attention should be given to the nature of the disturbance that may alter forest ecology, the forms of regeneration that follow, and the governance context within which this takes place.
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