scholarly journals Which Socio-economic Conditions Drive the Selection of Agroforestry at the Forest Frontier?

Author(s):  
Elizabeth Gosling ◽  
Thomas Knoke ◽  
Esther Reith ◽  
Alyna Reyes Cáceres ◽  
Carola Paul

AbstractModels are essential to assess the socio-economic credentials of new agroforestry systems. In this study, we showcase robust optimisation as a tool to evaluate agroforestry’s potential to meet farmers’ multiple goals. Our modelling approach has three parts. First, we use a discrete land-use model to evaluate two agroforestry systems (alley cropping and silvopasture) and conventional land uses against five socio-economic objectives, focusing on the forest frontier in eastern Panama. Next, we couple the land-use model with robust optimisation, to determine the mix of land uses (farm portfolio) that minimises trade-offs between the five objectives. Here we consider uncertainty to simulate the land-use decisions of a risk-averse farmer. Finally, we assess how the type and amount of agroforestry included in the optimal land-use portfolio changes under different environmental, socio-economic and political scenarios, to explore the conditions that may make agroforestry more attractive for farmers. We identify silvopasture as a promising land use for meeting farmers’ goals, especially for farms with less productive soils. The additional labour demand compared to conventional pasture, however, may prove an important barrier to adoption for farms facing acute labour shortages. The selection of agroforestry responded strongly to changes in investment costs and timber prices, suggesting that cost-sharing arrangements and tax incentives could be effective strategies to enhance adoption. We found alley cropping to be less compatible with farmers’ risk aversion, but this agroforestry system may still be a desirable complement to the land-use portfolio, especially for farmers who are more profit-oriented and tolerant of risk.

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1240
Author(s):  
Maria Fernanda Magioni Marçal ◽  
Zigomar Menezes de Souza ◽  
Rose Luiza Moraes Tavares ◽  
Camila Viana Vieira Farhate ◽  
Stanley Robson Medeiros Oliveira ◽  
...  

This study aims to assess the carbon stock in a pasture area and fragment of forest in natural regeneration, given the importance of agroforestry systems in mitigating gas emissions which contribute to the greenhouse effect, as well as promoting the maintenance of agricultural productivity. Our other goal was to predict the carbon stock, according to different land use systems, from physical and chemical soil variables using the Random Forest algorithm. We carried out our study at an Entisols Quartzipsamments area with a completely randomized experimental design: four treatments and six replites. The treatments consisted of the following: (i) an agroforestry system developed for livestock, (ii) an agroforestry system developed for fruit culture, (iii) a conventional pasture, and (iv) a forest fragment. Deformed and undeformed soil samples were collected in order to analyze their physical and chemical properties across two consecutive agricultural years. The response variable, carbon stock, was subjected to a boxplot analysis and all the databases were used for a predictive modeling which in turn used the Random Forest algorithm. Results led to the conclusion that the agroforestry systems developed both for fruit culture and livestock, are more efficient at stocking carbon in the soil than the pasture area and forest fragment undergoing natural regeneration. Nitrogen stock and land use systems are the most important variables to estimate carbon stock from the physical and chemical variables of soil using the Random Forest algorithm. The predictive models generated from the physical and chemical variables of soil, as well as the Random Forest algorithm, presented a high potential for predicting soil carbon stock and are sensitive to different land use systems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Eguiguren ◽  
Tatiana Ojeda Luna ◽  
Bolier Torres ◽  
Melvin Lippe ◽  
Sven Günter

The balance between the supply of multiple ecosystem services (ES) and the fulfillment of society demands is a challenge, especially in the tropics where different land use transition phases emerge. These phases are characterized by either a decline (from intact old-growth to logged forests) or a recovery of ES (successional forests, plantations, and agroforestry systems). This highlights the importance of ecosystem service multifunctionality (M) assessments across these land use transition phases as a basis for forest management and conservation. We analyzed synergies and trade-offs of ES to identify potential umbrella ES. We also evaluated the impact of logging activities in the decline of ES and M, and the influence of three recovery phases in the supply of ES and M. We installed 156 inventory plots (1600 m2) in the Ecuadorian Central Amazon and the Chocó. We estimated indicators for provisioning, regulating, supporting services and biodiversity. M indicator was estimated using the multifunctional average approach. Our results show that above-ground carbon stocks can be considered as an umbrella service as it presented high synergetic relations with M and various ES. We observed that logging activities caused a decline of 16–18% on M, with high impacts for timber volume and above-ground carbon stocks, calling for more sustainable practices with stricter post-harvesting control to avoid a higher depletion of ES and M. From the recovery phases it is evident that, successional forests offer the highest level of M, evidencing high potential to recover multiple ES after human disturbance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Mborah ◽  
Kenneth J. Bansah ◽  
Mark K. Boateng

<p>The ultimate objective of post-mine land-use and reclamation planning is to identify appropriate alternate land uses to which mined land could be put. This will ensure that land-use and morphology of the location will be capable of supporting either the prior land-use or pre-mining environment. The main challenge is usually, the choice of variables that must be considered in deciding a particular post-mining land-use. Literature reviews were conducted to identify the major factors needed to be considered in the selection of a post-mining land-use. This paper also looks at the most commonly practiced and accepted post-mining land-use techniques. Factors identified as important in the selection process include land resources (e.g. physical, biological and cultural characteristics), ownership, type of mining activity, legal requirements, location, needs of the community, economic, environmental, technical and social factors. In a broad categorization, all post-mining land-uses could be placed under one of the following land-use: agriculture, forestry, lake or pool, intensive recreational land-use, non-intensive recreational land-use, conservation and pit backfilling. However, the objective of any particular post-mining land use should be achieving economic and sustainable outcomes which meet human wants and needs, and protect life and the environment.</p>


Author(s):  
M. N. Danjuma ◽  
S. Mohammed ◽  
M. Z. Karkarna

The aim of this study is to assess agroforestry practices in Northwestern Nigeria with a view to bringing to light some salient features of the system for maximising benefits and improving livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the study area. A total of one hundred and sixty six smallholder farmers were sampled using random technique from five hundred and fifty farmers’ listed by the contact forum in the study area. Questionnaire was administered to the one hundred and sixty six smallholder farmers with a view to examining the level of farmers’ participation in agroforestry in six villages namely Kabobi and Garki in Katsina State, Bulangu and Abonabo in Jigawa State, Bobo in Zamfara State and Gulma in Kebbi State. Interview was also conducted with ten farmers in Bulangu, Kabobi and Gulma to provide explanations on the limitation to acceptance of agroforestry innovations in the study area. Data collected with the questionnaire was analysed using simple percentage and frequency in order to measure dispersion among sampled farmers. Data collected from the interview was coded, transcribed and presented in textual form in the paper. Result of the study revealed that seven agroforestry systems (alley cropping, boarder line planting, scattered planting, woodlot, apiculture, orchard and home garden) were practiced in the area. Orchard and home garden were not practiced in Kabobi, the northern most of the villages. It also indicated farmers’ level of participation for the seven identified technologies as follows: Alley cropping (25.63%), boarder line planting (16.25%), scattered trees on farmland (36.25%), woodlot (1.25%), orchard (1.88%), apiculture (8.75%) and home gardens (10.00%). The key factors limiting acceptance of innovations include: l) lack of tree seedling (25.00%), land tenure issues (17.50%), long tree gestation period of indigenous species (50.63%) and insect attack (06.88%). This study recommended that farmers should be educated more on agroforestry technologies through mass media programmes and ICT.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Romnick Baliton ◽  
LEILA LANDICHO ◽  
Rowena Esperanza Cabahug ◽  
ROSELYN F. PAELMO ◽  
Kenneth Laruan ◽  
...  

Abstract. Baliton RS, Landicho LD, Cabahug RED, Paelmo RF, Laruan KA, Rodriguez RS, Visco RG, Castillo AKA. 2020. Ecological services of agroforestry systems in selected upland farming communities in the Philippines. Biodiversitas 21: 707-717. A study was conducted in three selected upland farming communities in Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet and Quezon, Philippines to assess the ecological services of agroforestry systems. Results showed that alley cropping was the dominant agroforestry system in Nueva Vizcaya, while vegetable-based and coffee-based multistorey systems were found prevailing in Benguet and Quezon provinces. Agrobiodiversity assessment revealed that the values of Shannon-Wiener diversity index of agroforestry systems in the three study sites were considered to be low to moderate, ranging from 2.21 to 2.71. This validates that the number of individuals per species in the agroforestry landscape was not evenly distributed. The means of biomass in the three study sites, ranging from 106.22-127 tons ha-1, were higher than that of agroforestry systems (102.80 tons ha-1) in the Philippines. The agroforestry systems in Nueva Vizcaya had the largest carbon stock of 57.15 ton C ha-1, followed by Quezon 52.96 ton C ha-1 and Benguet 47.80 ton C ha-1. These results are comparable to the overall mean of carbon stock of tree plantations (59.0 ton C ha-1) and higher than that of agroforestry systems in the Philippines, i.e., 45.4 ton C ha-1. Therefore, this article argues that the different agroforestry systems provide ecological services in the upland farming communities in the Philippines.


2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (12) ◽  
pp. 1383-1391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Rodríguez Suárez ◽  
Yuli Tatiana Paladines Josa ◽  
Erika Judith Astudillo Samboni ◽  
Karla Dayana Lopez Cifuentes ◽  
Ervin Humprey Durán Bautista ◽  
...  

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the soil macrofauna and the bioindicator taxonomic groups associated with different land uses in the Colombian Amazon. Twelve agroforestry arrangements were studied and compared with to the native forest and pasture. For each land use, six monoliths were randomly selected and divided into four layers (litter, and 0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm soil depths). The variables considered in the analysis of land use effects were: individuals per square meter, order richness, Shannon’s diversity index, and Pielou’s evenness index. The greatest values for soil macrofauna density and diversity occurred in the forest, in contrast with the pasture. The principal component analysis distinguished land use according to macrofauna diversity, separating the native forest from the other land uses. The cluster analysis indicated the potential of some agroforestry systems to conserve the values of soil macrofauna density and diversity similar to those of the forest. According to the analysis of indicator value, five taxonomic groups (Diplura, Pseudoscorpionida, Araneae, Chilopoda, and Gastropoda), identified as bioindicators, are associated with preserved sites because of the sensitivity of their populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 2003-2020
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Gosling ◽  
Esther Reith ◽  
Thomas Knoke ◽  
Andrés Gerique ◽  
Carola Paul

Abstract Understanding farmers’ perceptions of and preferences towards agroforestry is essential to identify systems with the greatest likelihood of adoption to inform successful rural development projects. In this study we offer a novel approach for evaluating agroforestry systems from the farmer perspective. The approach couples rapid rural appraisal and normative optimisation techniques to determine favourable land-use compositions for meeting various socio-economic and ecological goals, based on farmers’ empirical knowledge and preferences. We test our approach among smallholder farmers in Eastern Panama, obtaining data from household interviews and using hierarchical cluster analysis to identify farm groups with similar land-use and income characteristics. We found that moderate differences in farmers’ perceptions between these groups altered the type and share of agroforestry included in the optimised land-use portfolios that balance the achievement of 10 pre-selected socio-economic and ecological objectives. Such differences provide valuable information about potential acceptability of agroforestry within each group. For example, we found that farmers who derive most of their farm income from crops may be more willing to adopt silvopasture, whereas farmers who are more economically dependent on cattle may benefit from diversifying their land-use with alley cropping. We discuss the potential of this modelling approach for participatory land-use planning, especially when dealing with small sample sizes and uncertainty in datasets.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44
Author(s):  
Eric Heikkila ◽  
Peter Leckie

This paper outlines a method for assessing experts' evaluation of how municipal revenues and expenditures are allocated across land use categories. The method includes selection of experts, the nature of their interactions, and the process by which their diverse opinions may be meaningfully aggregated. This method is implemented for the City of Vancouver, using two distinct groups of experts. The results from these two groups' efforts are strikingly similar, suggesting that vacant and commercial land uses are net fiscal contributors, while residential and industrial uses do not on average contribute revenues that cover the cost of services rendered by the municipality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4582
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Lagneaux ◽  
Merel Jansen ◽  
Julia Quaedvlieg ◽  
Pieter A. Zuidema ◽  
Niels P. R. Anten ◽  
...  

Agroforestry systems with a range of native and often neglected and underutilized tree species (NUS) are increasingly recognized for their potential role in restoration, simultaneously providing ecological and livelihood benefits. Successful adoption of these systems requires knowledge about beneficial species, system-level potential profitability, and barriers faced by farmers. Such information is essential but lacking for most NUS. We analyzed the economic potential of NUS in diverse smallholder-managed agroforestry systems in the Peruvian Amazon. Through semi-structured surveys with local stakeholders (n = 40), we identified 10 native Amazonian NUS fruit with ecological, nutritious and commercial benefits. We then simulated the potential revenue per species and system-level profit of an agroforestry system designed with the 10 NUS. Our projections suggest that a diverse NUS-based agroforestry system can outcompete most alternative land-uses in the region on a per hectare profit basis. This shows that including NUS in restoration efforts could provide economic benefits for smallholders. To realize this potential, we recommend adapted interventions, e.g., increased farmer access to planting material, technical support for production and capacity building with a focus on high-potential NUS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-135
Author(s):  
Mujiyo MUJIYO ◽  
Suntoro SUNTORO ◽  
Restu Prasetyaning TYAS ◽  
Aktavia HERAWATI ◽  
Hery WIDIJANTO

Soil quality is closely related to environment because soil is not only viewed as a growing media for plants but also encompasses various environmental and health functions. It is important to know the quality of soil in order to keep it healthy, productive, and optimally functioning. This research aims to evaluate soil quality status in various land uses and to learn the land factors that are related to soil quality. Soil quality index (SQI) represents the soil quality status. SQI will then be used as the basis for soil management. A descriptive explorative research study was carried out in the Giritontro Sub-district, Wonogiri District, Indonesia. SQI indicators were obtained from 12 existing Land Mapping Units (LMU). SQI was obtained by determining the Minimum Data Set (MDS) with a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) test. Then SQI was mapped and statistically analyzed to determine the influence of land use and the determinant factors of SQI. Results showed that SQI in all area is class 3 or moderate. SQI was significantly influenced by land use. SQI in paddy field is 9.09% higher than crop fields and 2.27% higher than of plantations. Indicators which are significantly related to SQI are bulk density, porosity, cation exchange capacity, available P, available K and microbial biomass carbon (MBC). The type of soil management that can be implemented to improve soil quality includes addition of organic or inorganic fertilizer and adoption of an agroforestry system.


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