Browsing by Author "Enfors, Elin"

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Making Investments in Dryland Development Work: Participatory Scenario Planning in the Makanya Catchment, Tanzania
(2008) Enfors, Elin; Gordon, Line; Peterson, Garry D.; Bossio, Deborah
"The agro-ecosystems of semi-arid and dry sub-humid SSA are inherently dynamic. At this point in time they are also experiencing a series of complex social-ecological changes that make their future even more uncertain. To ensure that development investments made today in the small-scale farming systems that dominate these regions make sense also in a long-term perspective they should benefit the local communities over a range of potential futures. We applied a participatory scenario planning approach to a smallholder farming community in semi-arid Tanzania, exploring four alternative development trajectories for the area, to increase the robustness of current investments in small-scale water system technologies. We found that water system technologies will be important across a number of possible futures, but that the most relevant target of these innovations, e.g., staple- versus cash-crop production, or individual- versus community-managed systems, differs. We argue that building capacity for experimentation among farmers is key to upgrading their farming systems, as this will generate benefits over a range of alternative futures. Furthermore, we found it to be essential across a range of scenarios to analyze the system-level impact of proposed interventions for successful investments in water system technologies. We conclude that although the method presents some challenges, participatory scenario planning is a useful tool for integrating research and development projects in the larger context, asit increases the understanding of events and processes that may either challenge the project or provide opportunities for it."
Smallholder System Innovations in Integrated Watershed Management (SSI) Strategies of Water for Food and Environmental Security in Drought-Prone Tropical and Subtropical Agro-Ecosystems
(2006) Bhatt, Yogesh; Bossio, Deborah; Enfors, Elin; Gordon, Line; Kongo, Victor; Kosgei, Job Rotich; Makurira, Hodson; Masuki, Kenneth; Mul, Marloes; Tumbo, Siza D.
"Rapidly increasing population in the dynamic semi-arid agro-ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) highlights the necessity to increase food production, while at the same time safe-guarding other ecological systems that support human development and well-being. In the past, increases in crop production to keep pace with population growth in this region were largely achieved through the expansion of cultivated area. Today, we must also consider ways of improving the productivity of already existing cropping systems. This working paper frames the critical questions that must be addressed through development-oriented research and describes the integrated research approach of the SSI program, its interconnected research projects - their scope and methodologies."
Studying the Complexity of Change: Toward an Analytical Framework for Understanding Deliberate Social-Ecological Transformations
(2014) Moore, Michele-Lee; Tjornbo, Ola; Enfors, Elin; Knapp, Corrie; Hodbod, Jennifer; Baggio, Jacopo A.; Norström, Albert; Olsson, Per
"Faced with numerous seemingly intractable social and environmental challenges, many scholars and practitioners are increasingly interested in understanding how to actively engage and transform the existing systems holding such problems in place. Although a variety of analytical models have emerged in recent years, most emphasize either the social or ecological elements of such transformations rather than their coupled nature. To address this, first we have presented a definition of the core elements of a social-ecological system (SES) that could potentially be altered in a transformation. Second, we drew on insights about transformation from three branches of literature focused on radical change, i.e., social movements, socio-technical transitions, and social innovation, and gave consideration to the similarities and differences with the current studies by resilience scholars. Drawing on these findings, we have proposed a framework that outlines the process and phases of transformative change in an SES. Future research will be able to utilize the framework as a tool for analyzing the alteration of social-ecological feedbacks, identifying critical barriers and leverage points and assessing the outcome of social-ecological transformations."