Poverty has many faces and poverty reduction many pathways in different contexts. Lack of food and income interact with lack of access to water, energy, protection from floods, voice, rights and recognition. Among the pathways by which agricultural research can increase rural prosperity, integrated natural resource management deals with a complex nexus of issues, with tradeoffs among issues that are in various stages of denial, recognition, analysis, innovation, scenario synthesis and creation of platforms for (policy) change. Rather than on a portfolio of externally developed ‘solutions’ ready for adoption and use, the concept of sustainable development may primarily hinge on the strengths and weaknesses of local communities to observe, analyse, innovate, connect, organize collective action and become part of wider coalitions. ‘Boundary work’ supporting such efforts can help resolve issues in a polycentric governance context, especially where incomplete understanding and knowledge prevent potential win-win alternatives to current lose-lose conflicts to emerge. Integrated research-development approaches deal with context (‘theory of place’) and options (‘theory of change’) in multiple ways that vary from selecting sites for studying pre-defined issues to starting from whatever issue deserves prominence in a given location of interest. A knowledge-to-action linkage typology recognizes three situations of increasing complexity. In Type I more knowledge can directly lead to action by a single decision maker; in Type II more knowledge can inform tradeoff decisions, while in Type III negotiation support of multiple knowledge + multiple decision maker settings deals with a higher level of complexity. Current impact quantification can deal with the first, is challenged in the second and inadequate in the third case, dealing with complex social-ecological systems. Impact-oriented funding may focus on Type I and miss the opportunities for the larger ultimate impact of Type II and III involvements.
Tag: environmental protection
Back to tree planting for economic and environmental resilience (in Vietnamese language)
Displayed the vulnerable situation in Ho Ho and suggested some Agroforestry solutions in this area
Agroforestry – a policy imperative for Vietnam
Agroforestry has been traditionally practiced, although it does not go under the name ‘agroforestry’. The VAC-R-systems (vuon-ao-chuong-rung or garden-pond-livestock-forest) expanded largely in the 1960-90s. Taungya is often practiced to introduce reforestation by intercropping annu-al crops with tree seedlings during the first 1-3 years until the tree canopy has closed.‘Integrated agroforestry’ is originally used to denote the integration of trees and crops (in one field), such as intercropping, alley cropping, parkland – sometimes includ-ing livestock. Agroforestry in the northern uplands of Viet Nam can at best be described as temporarily integrated in transition from segregated mosaic monocultures of maize or cassava to timber-tree mono-plantation (typically Aca-cia, Eucalypts, Manglietia, Melia).
Accelerating livelihood and environmental recovery in Aceh and Nias through tree crops
Aceh remains one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia despite its rich natural resources. The 3-decade long political conflict, economic isolation, lack of technology and weak institutional setups are part of the reasons. The long political dispute between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (or GAM) killed nearly 15,000 people, displaced more than 35,000 households and caused serious damage and deterioration of infrastructure. The 2004 earthquake and tsunami thus occurred in a province that was already experienci ng large-scale disaster, damage and poverty. There is much disparity in the poverty of people living in the coastal areas and those living further upland. About 54% of the people live inland and nearly 94% of them rely on agriculture compared to 55% in the coastal areas. On average 76% of total household income is based on agricultural activities and tree crops are the most important providing 60 to 78% of total household income. Rubber, cocoa, areca nuts, coffee, coconut and oil palm are important income generating tree crops. These tree crops are fundamental to the economic prosperity in Aceh and Nias. Many of the environmental problems in the post-disast er context cannot be solved through short- term measures and only through conservation oriented programs. A focus on “trees people want” and tree-based systems and how su ch forest and agroforest systems can be managed in a sustainable manner is a key to accelerating livelihood recovery and economic and environmental recovery in Aceh and Nias
Lessons from the Machakos district of Kenya: a story of environmental recovery
Perceptions of Typhoon Haiyan affected communities about the resilience and storm protection function of mangrove ecosystems in Leyte and Eastern Samar, Philippines
The destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the coastal areas of central Philippines drew greater international attention to the vulnerability of coastal communities to extreme weather and climate events. Mangrove ecosystems enhance coastal resilience by acting as barriers against storms and its impacts. However, given the strength of and damage brought by Typhoon Haiyan, the extent to which mangroves and coastal vegetation can reduce the impacts of waves caused by storm surge has emerged as a salient issue. Drawing on the results of a survey of 870 households; focus group discussions with community members; and interviews with representatives from government agencies, nongovernment organizations, people’s organizations, and communities, the study examines local perceptions on whether or not mangroves played a role in reducing the impacts brought by Typhoon Haiyan in five affected municipalities and cities. It explores how peoples’ perception of the coastal protection function of mangroves differed according to the state of mangroves—in terms of area, width and species richness—validated through vegetation surveys. It also identifies insights on how community participation may help improve coastal rehabilitation and management strategies. In general, the respondents were aware of and appreciated the functions performed by the mangrove forests in protecting their lives and properties from Typhoon Haiyan. However, the participation involvement of local communities in mangrove rehabilitation and management remains low. Community awareness needs to be improved and residents must be encouraged to participate in mangrove rehabilitation and management. This study complements existing studies that show the ability of mangroves and coastal vegetation in attenuating storm surges, the factors that affect the level of protection, the limitations of this function, and the need for further studies that will look more closely into these crucial factors. – See more at: http://www.cddjournal.org/article/view/vol01-iss01-004#sthash.8GC4CNhA.dpuf
Agroforestry innovations and livelihood enhancement: kecamatan Nanggung, West Java (Halimun Project) (English ver.2)
Local farmers on or below the poverty line with access to less than 1 hectares of land. Farmers havepoor access to extension services and market opportunities. Government agencies fear communities willconvert surrounding forest area (TNGH) which has high biodiversity and is the major watershed for Jakarta
A tale of transaction costs and forest law compliance: Trade permits for Non Timber Forests Products in Cameroon
There are growing concerns about illegal activities in the forestry sector and some work is in progress to understand the causes and consequences of noncompliance to forestry laws. However, most research on illegal forest activities deals with illegal timber harvesting with little efforts on other activities like Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP). In Cameroon, commercial exploitation of most NTFP is regulated by a permit system. However a majority of traders who sell these products do not have the necessary permits. The objective of this paper is to assess and use transactions costs economics (TCs) to explain why traders in Cameroon do not comply with regulations on permits. Results show that the process to obtain permits may require more than 26,000 USD and may require regular monitoring during a time span of more than 4 years. Analyses of traders’ perceptions illustrate that the major sources of high TCs in the forest sector are the perceived complex administrative procedures and information asymmetry on procedures and the requirements to obtain permits. The study concludes that it is the impracticality to abide to high TCs rather than the inclination to disobey the law that pushes traders to operate without permits.
Bridging the gap between farmers production orientation and the watershed conservation goal in Indonesia’s regreening program
Regreening is the main objective of Indonesia’s watershed conservation program conducted on critical farmers’ land through farmers’ participation. Initiated in 1976 by a Presidential Instruction the program has the following objectives:•Watershed resource conservation•Farmers’ prosperity improvement (productivity increase).Regreening, executed by the district-level Forestry and Conservation Service, encompasses: •village-level demonstration,•nursery of tree crops and grasses,•community forest, •mixed garden,•check dam,•gully plug.The main effort is spent on the demonstration units and village nurseries
BASIS Brief: property rights, environmental services and poverty in Indonesia
IN 1999, MR. ADING SUWARNA, THE LEADER of the village of Tribudi Syukur in Sumatra, Indonesia, heard from a local forest officer about a new community forestry program providing farmers with long-term licenses to use degraded protected state forest land for coffee production. The requirements were that the farmers protect the remaining forest, plant environmentally-beneficial agroforestry trees in their coffee plantations, and use appropriate soil and water conservation practices. This program offered a new and potentially more effective approach to achieving sustainable forest management in Indonesia. Several times in the previous two decades, coffee farmers in Tribudi Syukur and many other communities had been forcibly evicted from state forest land areas, their plantations destroyed, and trees planted by the government. Such efforts did not produce lasting protection or restoration of the forest areas, which were ravaged by subsequent fires and illegal encroachments. The new community forestry, or Hutan Kamasyarakatan (HKm) program, sought a different approach: reward farmers with increased tenure security in already degraded areas in exchange for their cooperation in protecting the remaining forests and managing the land they use more sustainably