Understanding how local people view and value the role of trees in enhancing livelihoods and environmental quality is the key to increasing resilience in agricultural landscapes through tree planting. In the Ho Ho sub-watershed, north-central Viet Nam, which is highly exposed to climate change and variability, we investigated local knowledge on the role of trees that involved people upstream and downstream in the sub-watershed. The respondents were requested to identify the different roles of tree-based and annual crop systems in their landscape to livelihood and the environment, and then to rank these roles to reveal the primary function of each landuse system. We found that local knowledge on the roles of each landuse type, both in upstream and downstream communes, was influenced by the household land holding size and the actual contribution to household income as well. This, for example, explains the higher appreciation of acacia than agarwood in terms of livelihood and environmental functions. In the sub-watershed, the average land holding size per household for acacia plantation was 1.3 ha, while agarwood trees were planted in homegardens with a delayed harvesting time (15 years after planting compared to 7 years for acacia). Different responsibilities in agricultural activities between males and females in the family, contributed to contrasting responses between the male and female groups on the role of tree-based and annual crop systems in household income. Men regarded annual crops as a more important source of income than trees, whereas women asserted the opposite. In the sampled households, financial management and private consumption provision were two tasks mostly handled by women, and this likely explains the gender sensitivity. We conclude that local people in the upstream and downstream communes of the sub-watershed recognised well the important roles of trees to livelihood and environmental quality, but in actual implementation, they always prioritised livelihood over environmental issues, especially in relation to tree planting on their own land. Environmental issues were only an option considered for unallocated areas such as protection forest, or for allocated lands not suitable for planting due to physical barriers such as high elevation or steep slopes.
Tag: livelihood
Growth and fruit yield of seedlings, cuttings and grafts from selected son tra trees in Northwest Vietnam
This study examined tree growth and fruit production of son tra (Docynia indica), an indigenous fruit tree. Eight phenotypically superior trees with high fruit yields and good fruit appearance were selected in 2005 at Ngoc Chien commune, Muong La District, Son la Province, Northwest Vietnam. Three types of planting material were raised from these trees: grafts from the selected trees onto unselected seedling rootstocks, seedlings raised from seeds collected from the superior trees and cuttings raised from seedlings. The grafts, seedlings and cuttings were planted out in 2006 in adjacent blocks in a field trial established at Chieng Bom experimental station in Son La Province. Thirty trees of each type were monitored for a 3-year period commencing in January 2012, when the trees were 6 years old. Survival of all three types from planting was excellent, remaining above 90% at the end of 2014. Grafted trees grew fastest, attaining a mean height of 7.0m and crown width of 4.4m, while trees raised from cuttings grew significantly slower (height 5.0m and crown width 3.4m, with seedlingderived trees intermediate. Mean fruit yield at 8 years was significantly higher for grafts (38.7kg per tree) compared to trees raised from seedlings (30.7kg per tree) and those from cuttings (28.9kg per tree). Fruits from the grafted trees were judged to be of superior quality, being predominantly yellow in colour and of uniform large (> 3cm) size, while fruit from most of the seedling and cutting-derived trees were judged to be of moderate quality with inferior size and colour. Considering the excellent survival of grafts and their superior fruit yield and fruit quality, grafting can be recommended as a better way to propagate selected son tra trees, compared with using seedlings raised from seed collected from the selected trees or cuttings raised from these seedlings.
Bundling of payments/rewards for environmental services a viable incentive system under development in the uplands of Northern Vietnam
Mechanisms for Payments for Environmental Services (PES) and Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) are developing in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular. It is clear in Vietnam that single payments for water as an environmental service from forest, or for forest carbon through a REDD mechanism, gives forest owners insufficient income, thereby limiting livelihood improvements and forest protection. A viable incentive system that contains rewards, payments and livelihood options — ‘bundling’ payments for ecosystem services or ‘co – investment for PES’ — being developed in Ba Be district, Bac Kan province, is an option to this limitation (Photo 1 ). Bac Kan was chosen owing to it 40 % poverty rate, 55 % forest cover and complex landscape
The effects of agroecological farming systems on smallholder livelihoods: a case study on push–pull system from Western Kenya
There is a need for scaling-up agroecology to promote sustainable agriculture at global level. Although, recent studies show that agroecological approaches can achieve both high yields and profits compared with conventional systems, the performance of other socioeconomic indicators remains unknown. This study has two objectives (i) identify the main characteristics of small-scale producers who represent the target-groups of the SDG 2; (ii) provide a comparison between push–pull and conventional farming systems of maize production to explore and possibly implement sustainable systems. In collaboration with Biovision Africa Trust, a participatory assessment framework was implemented in Western Kenya. Twenty-three farmers were selected and data were analysed showing that the push–pull contributes to social/cultural and natural/ecological capitals. In particular, push–pull farmers are more focused on socially oriented groups (75%); moreover, they cultivate smaller plots (1.9 ha) compared to conventional farmers (3.1 ha) without showing a reduction in profitability. The benefits of adopting push–pull system indicated by farmers (e.g. diminished Striga weed) are consistent with the advantages reported in relevant scientific literature. Considering the explorative nature of this study, the article makes a key contribution by pointing towards important questions for future research on agroecology in Sub-Saharan African countries.