Carbon stock changes through dryland rehabilitation: a case study from central Jordan’s agro-pastures

<p>Land cover, productivity and carbon stocks are among the widely acknowledged indicators of the land’s degradation and development status. The indicators’ assess-ability, however, differs across global ecosystems and location. Despite the complexity of carbon stocks, soil carbon in particular is receiving increasing attention for its potential in both climate change mitigation and economic growth in developing carbon markets. <br>The degraded drylands of Jordan have been targeted by multiple investment programs to rehabilitate their arid agro-pastures, including through the application of mechanized micro-water harvesting structures combined with the plantation of native shrub seedlings. Whilst both local and remote land cover and biomass change monitoring indicate variable rehabilitation success, the related carbon stock changes remain largely under-investigated and unclear.<br>An international research consortium designed and implemented a study to investigate the actual and potential future carbon stocks per ecosystem status at an agro-pastoral research site located in central Jordan’s ‘Badia’, considering both conventionally managed (degraded) and rehabilitated lands. Field experiments conducted by scientists and  local and former tribal community collaborators were combined with carbon modeling using RothC. This enabled the development of multiple scenarios considering both natural and enhanced, or human induced, processes; for example, through landscape modification (mechanized micro-water harvesting), vegetation plantation as well as optional soil amendment through biosolids. Preliminary results suggest that the implementation of water harvesting structures leads to a pronounced increase in soil carbon sequestration when compared to baseline conditions of between 15% and 45% over a 5 year period , with work ongoing to quantify the uncertainties around these results. The selected rehabilitation scenarios match the criteria for vast potential upscaling across global drylands. The study outcomes will eventually support a comprehensive ecosystem services valuation approach with (soil) carbon as an integral factor and moving towards reversing degradation and crediting the dry ecosystem’s values beyond their marginal agricultural services.</p>

Adoption of water harvesting technologies among agro-pastoralists in semi-arid rangelands of South Eastern Kenya

Background The arid and semi-arid lands experience inherently unpredictable rainfall and frequent droughts, which are exacerbated by climate change. This consequently leads to deterioration of land resources, and eventually forage and water shortages that negatively impact livestock productivity. In Kenya, development and government agencies have been supporting on-farm adaptation strategies such as water harvesting conservation structures to cope with climate hazards that affect agricultural production and food security in agro-pastoral and pastoral systems. The various water harvesting structures that have been promoted include Zai pits for growing crops and trees, water pans and shallow wells for livestock and domestic use, as well as for irrigation. However, the impact of such interventions with regard to improvement of range productivity and therefore welfare of agro-pastoral and pastoral communities has not been felt owing to low adoption rate by households. Results This study determined social, economic and institutional factors influencing the adoption of water harvesting technologies by households in pastoral areas of Tana river County of Kenya. The data was collected through household survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The results show that access to extension services and training, level of monthly income, main source of livelihood, land tenure, membership in social groups and availability of active farm labor significantly influenced the adoption of water harvesting structures. Conclusion Pastoralists therefore need to be mobilized and trained on how to construct and use water harvesting structures and sensitized on the potential socioeconomic benefits of adopting them.

Adoption of water harvesting technologies among agro-pastoralists in semi-arid rangelands of South Eastern Kenya

Background: The arid and semi-arid lands experience inherently unpredictable rainfall and frequent droughts, which are exacerbated by climate change. This consequently leads to deterioration of land resources, and eventually forage and water shortages that negatively impact livestock productivity. In Kenya, development and government agencies have been supporting on-farm adaptation strategies such as water harvesting conservation structures to cope with climate hazards that affect agricultural production and food security in agro-pastoral and pastoral systems. The various water harvesting structures that have been promoted include Zai pits for growing crops and trees, water pans and shallow wells for livestock and domestic use, as well as for irrigation. However, the impact of such interventions with regard to improvement of range productivity and therefore welfare of agro-pastoral and pastoral communities has not been felt owing to low adoption rate by households. Results: This study determined social, economic and institutional factors influencing the adoption of water harvesting technologies by households in pastoral areas of Tana river County of Kenya. The data was collected through household survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The results show that access to extension services and training, level of monthly income, main source of livelihood, land tenure, membership in social groups and availability of active farm labor significantly influenced the adoption of water harvesting structures.Conclusion: Pastoralists therefore need to be mobilized and trained on how to construct and use water harvesting structures and sensitized on the potential socioeconomic benefits of adopting them.

Adoption of water harvesting technologies among agro-pastoralists in semi-arid rangelands of South Eastern Kenya

Background: The arid and semi-arid lands experience inherently unpredictable rainfall and frequent droughts, which are exacerbated by climate change. This consequently leads to deterioration of land resources, and eventually forage and water shortages that negatively impact livestock productivity. In Kenya, development and governments agencies have been supporting on farm adaptation strategies such as water harvesting conservation structures to cope with climate hazards that affect agricultural production and food security in agro-pastoral and pastoral systems. The various water harvesting structures that have been promoted include Zai pits for growing crops and trees, water pans and shallow wells for livestock and domestic use, as well as irrigation. However, the impact of such interventions with regard to improvement of range productivity and therefore welfare of agro-pastoral and pastoral communities has not been felt owing to low adoption rate by households. Results: This study determined social, economic and institutional factors influencing the adoption of water harvesting technologies by households in pastoral areas of Tana river County of Kenya. The data was collected through household survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The results show that access to extension services and training, level of monthly income, main source of livelihood, land tenure, membership in social groups and availability of active farm labor significantly influenced the adoption of water harvesting structures. Conclusion: Pastoralists therefore need to be mobilized and trained on how to construct and use water harvesting structures and sensitized on the potential socioeconomic benefits of adopting them. Key words: Drylands, Water harvesting, Adaptive strategies, Pastoralism

Viewpoint: Defeating the water crisis: Community matters!

Community participation is critical in enhancing rural sustainability in terms of managing indigenous water harvesting structures. The long-standing illusion that the water crisis can only be tackled through a top down strategy design has been shattered by a successful community engagement model using the social, financial, and human capital of the community in the semi-arid village Laporiya of Rajasthan in India. The positive externalities created through the process of community engagement are not only via knowledge sharing but also water sharing with neighboring villages. The appropriate policy suggestion for the positive externalities so created is to build an extra market for ‘ideas’ creating incentives for these innovative practices in rural settings by allowing them to flourish in a hazard free manner, free from the risk of encroachment of common lands, or of future inter-sectoral resource conflict arising out of any industrial activity. The state-managed community participation has also been successful in reviving and creating water harvesting structures, but the sustainability of such program is at stake, in the absence of social capital. Communities do matter but in ways that sustain the local economy.

Determinants of Adoption Decisions of Water Harvesting Structures Among Pastoral Areas of Kenya

BackgroundThe arid and semi-arid lands are affected inherently by unpredictable rainfall and frequent droughts, which are exacerbated by climate change. This has resulted in deterioration of land resources, leading to forage and water shortages that negatively impact on livestock productivity. To cope with these climatic hazards that affect agricultural production and food security in pastoral areas, on farm adaptation strategies such as water harvesting initiatives are being supported by development agencies and governments. Some of these strategies have not been able to produce the desired levels of productivity and thus have failed to improve the welfare of the pastoral communities or prevent rangelands from deteriorating due to low adoption rates at household level.ResultsThis study determined social, economic and institutional factors influencing the adoption of water harvesting systems at household level in pastoral areas of Tana River County of Kenya. The data was collected through household survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The results show that access to extension services and training, monthly income level, main source of livelihood, land tenure system, membership in community groups and availability of active farm labor significantly influenced the adoption of water harvesting structures which need a combination of technical efficiency with low cost and acceptability to pastoral communities.ConclusionPastoralists therefore need to be mobilized and trained on how to construct and use water harvesting structures and sensitized on the potential socioeconomic benefits of adopting them.