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2012 Household Questionnaire: Snowmelt Dependent Systems in the United States and Kenya
(2012) Evans, Tom; Cox, Michael; McCord, Paul
"Within water-scarce environments, household characteristics such as family size, income, dependence on markets, and influence of external agents, among others, interact with the biophysical environment to produce socio-hydrological outcomes. Livelihood decisions and outcomes not only are dependent on socio-economic factors such as proximity of employment sources and the number of individuals to tend to farming operations, they are also tied to periodicity of rainfall and the reliability of surface water to maintain livelihood operations. As a result, an understanding of both social and biophysical characteristics is essential when examining coupled outcomes within water-scarce environments. In the Mount Kenya region, livelihoods are heavily dependent on the availability of water, whether through rainfall or surface water. To manage this essential resource, irrigation projects have been established on the western and north-western slopes of the mountain. The management committees of these irrigation projects determine water availability during seasonal dry periods, enforce penalties for water misuse, make repairs to damaged infrastructure, and collect membership and maintenance fees. The ability of the irrigation projects to reliably deliver water is essential in determining the agricultural performance of the member households. The 2012 household questionnaire was designed to understand household characteristics, seasonal water availability, irrigation project management, and, most importantly, how these forces combine to create socio-hydrological outcomes. Such outcomes include household food security, agricultural sustainability, and appropriate water use. The 2012 household survey was administered within five formal irrigation projects which used pipe infrastructure and three formal irrigation projects which relied on direct water extraction from rivers rather than pipe infrastructure. A total of 315 households were visited within the eight irrigation projects."
2012 Manager Questionnaire: Snowmelt Dependent Systems in the United States and Kenya
(2012) Evans, Tom; Cox, Michael; McCord, Paul
"Within water-scarce environments, household characteristics such as family size, income, dependence on markets, and influence of external agents, among others, interact with the biophysical environment to produce socio-hydrological outcomes. Livelihood decisions and outcomes not only are dependent on socio-economic factors such as proximity of employment sources and the number of individuals to tend to farming operations, they are also tied to periodicity of rainfall and the reliability of surface water to maintain livelihood operations. As a result, an understanding of both social and biophysical characteristics is essential when examining coupled outcomes within water-scarce environments. In the Mount Kenya region, livelihoods are heavily dependent on the availability of water, whether through rainfall or surface water. To manage this essential resource, irrigation projects have been established on the western and north-western slopes of the mountain. The management committees of these irrigation projects determine water availability during seasonal dry periods, enforce penalties for water misuse, make repairs to damaged infrastructure, and collect membership and maintenance fees. The ability of the irrigation projects to reliably deliver water is essential in determining the agricultural performance of the member households. The 2012 manager questionnaire was administered to the chairperson of each irrigation project. It was designed to understand attributes of the irrigation projects (such as age of the infrastructure and membership fees), land and water assets of the irrigation project members, agricultural activities taking place within the irrigation project, and the rules and norms that exist within the irrigation project. Questions concerning the rules and norms represented the majority of manager survey questions, as the inner workings of the irrigation projects are revealed through examination of monitoring structures, monetary penalties, participation in project meetings, distribution of water during low flow periods, and coordination with other irrigation projects. The 2012 manager survey was administered within eight irrigation projects."
2013 Care Taker Questionnaire: Snowmelt Dependent Systems in the United States and Kenya
(2013) Evans, Tom; McCord, Paul; Dell'Angelo, Jampel
"Within water-scarce environments, household characteristics such as family size, income, dependence on markets, and influence of external agents, among others, interact with the biophysical environment to produce socio-hydrological outcomes. Livelihood decisions and outcomes not only are dependent on socio-economic factors such as proximity of employment sources and the number of individuals to tend to farming operations, they are also tied to periodicity of rainfall and the reliability of surface water to maintain livelihood operations. As a result, an understanding of both social and biophysical characteristics is essential when examining coupled outcomes within water-scarce environments. In the Mount Kenya region, livelihoods are heavily dependent on the availability of water, whether through rainfall or surface water. To manage this essential resource, irrigation projects have been established on the western and north-western slopes of the mountain. The management committees of these irrigation projects determine water availability during seasonal dry periods, enforce penalties for water misuse, make repairs to damaged infrastructure, and collect membership and maintenance fees. The ability of the irrigation projects to reliably deliver water is essential in determining the agricultural performance of the member households. The 2013 care taker questionnaire was administered to the care taker (primary maintenance person) of each irrigation project. It was designed to understand aspects of the irrigation project’s infrastructure (e.g., the age of the pipes, the size of household pipes, the number of irrigation lines), water rotation schedules, the role of the care taker in enforcing penalties, and the responsiveness of the care taker in resolving member complaints (such as pipe breakages, clogged lines, and overuse of water). The survey was administered to the care takers of twenty-five irrigation projects on the western and north-western slopes of Mount Kenya."
2013 Household Questionnaire: Snowmelt Dependent Systems in the United States and Kenya
(2013) Evans, Tom; McCord, Paul; Dell'Angelo, Jampel
"Within water-scarce environments, household characteristics such as family size, income, dependence on markets, and influence of external agents, among others, interact with the biophysical environment to produce socio-hydrological outcomes. Livelihood decisions and outcomes not only are dependent on socio-economic factors such as proximity of employment sources and the number of individuals to tend to farming operations, they are also tied to periodicity of rainfall and the reliability of surface water to maintain livelihood operations. As a result, an understanding of both social and biophysical characteristics is essential when examining coupled outcomes within water-scarce environments. In the Mount Kenya region, livelihoods are heavily dependent on the availability of water, whether through rainfall or surface water. To manage this essential resource, irrigation projects have been established on the western and north-western slopes of the mountain. The management committees of these irrigation projects determine water availability during seasonal dry periods, enforce penalties for water misuse, make repairs to damaged infrastructure, and collect membership and maintenance fees. The ability of the irrigation projects to reliably deliver is essential in determining the agricultural performance of the member households. The 2013 household questionnaire was designed to understand household characteristics, seasonal water availability, irrigation project management, and, most importantly, how these forces combine to create socio-hydrological outcomes. Such outcomes include household food security, agricultural sustainability, and appropriate water use. The 2013 household survey was administered within twenty-five irrigation projects to over 750 households on the western and north-western slopes of Mount Kenya to capture a range of socio-hydrological outcomes.
2013 Management Committee Questionnaire: Snowmelt Dependent Systems in the United States and Kenya
(2013) Evans, Tom; Dell'Angelo, Jampel; McCord, Paul
"Within water-scarce environments, household characteristics such as family size, income, dependence on markets, and influence of external agents, among others, interact with the biophysical environment to produce socio-hydrological outcomes. Livelihood decisions and outcomes not only are dependent on socio-economic factors such as proximity of employment sources and the number of individuals to tend to farming operations, they are also tied to periodicity of rainfall and the reliability of surface water to maintain livelihood operations. As a result, an understanding of both social and biophysical characteristics is essential when examining coupled outcomes within water-scarce environments. In the Mount Kenya region, livelihoods are heavily dependent on the availability of water, whether through rainfall or surface water. To manage this essential resource, irrigation projects have been established on the western and north-western slopes of the mountain. The management committees of these irrigation projects determine water availability during seasonal dry periods, enforce penalties for water misuse, make repairs to damaged infrastructure, and collect membership and maintenance fees. The ability of the irrigation projects to reliably deliver water is essential in determining the agricultural performance of the member households. The 2013 management committee questionnaire was administered to the management committee of each irrigation project. Management committees typically consist of a chairperson, vice-chairperson, treasurer, secretary, and representatives from the separate irrigation lines within the project. The survey was primarily designed to understand attributes of the irrigation project that were better addressed in a group setting. This included questions regarding the cost of membership, the monthly rate to maintain membership, the age of the irrigation project, the number of days per month that project members irrigate their fields, and the topics that are typically discussed during irrigation project meetings. The 2013 management committee survey was administered within twenty-five irrigation projects on the western and north-western slopes of Mount Kenya."
2013 Manager Questionnaire: Snowmelt Dependent Systems in the United States and Kenya
(2013) Evans, Tom; Dell'Angelo, Jampel; McCord, Paul
"Within water-scarce environments, household characteristics such as family size, income, dependence on markets, and influence of external agents, among others, interact with the biophysical environment to produce socio-hydrological outcomes. Livelihood decisions and outcomes not only are dependent on socio-economic factors such as proximity of employment sources and the number of individuals to tend to farming operations, they are also tied to periodicity of rainfall and the reliability of surface water to maintain livelihood operations. As a result, an understanding of both social and biophysical characteristics is essential when examining coupled outcomes within water-scarce environments. In the Mount Kenya region, livelihoods are heavily dependent on the availability of water, whether through rainfall or surface water. To manage this essential resource, irrigation projects have been established on the western and north-western slopes of the mountain. The management committees of these irrigation projects determine water availability during seasonal dry periods, enforce penalties for water misuse, make repairs to damaged infrastructure, and collect membership and maintenance fees. The ability of the irrigation projects to reliably deliver water is essential in determining the agricultural performance of the member households. The 2013 manager questionnaire was administered to the chairperson of each irrigation project. It was designed to understand attributes of the irrigation projects (such as age of the infrastructure and membership fees), land and water assets of the irrigation project members, agricultural activities taking place within the irrigation project, and the rules and norms that exist within the irrigation project. Questions concerning the rules and norms represented the majority of manager survey questions, as the inner workings of the irrigation projects are revealed through examination of monitoring structures, monetary penalties, participation in project meetings, distribution of water during low flow periods, and coordination with other irrigation projects. The 2013 manager survey was administered within twenty-five irrigation projects. More than twenty-five manager surveys were administered, since, on occasion, surveys were administered not only to the chairperson of the irrigation project, but also to the secretary and/or treasurer."
3 Pillars of a Food Revolution
(2010) Lappé, Anna
"As marketers learn to fake climate-friendly food, how do we spot the real thing? Anna Lappé says it's a question of values."
A configurational approach on the strategic relevance of cooperative models of agri-food value chain organization for sustainable transformation
(2024) De Herde, Véronique; Dufays, Frédéric
Cooperative models in agri-food value chains are characterized by modes of horizontal and vertical organization among different collective actors, cooperative and investor-owned businesses. The cooperative models can adopt different organizational features at horizontal level (between actors at the same value chain stage) and at vertical level (between value chain stage). These organizational features range from coordination among autonomous collective actors to integration in a centralized operating and decision-making structure. Depending on contractualization and internal governance, these models can present polycentric governance features marked to varying extent. We raise the question whether we may identify archetypes of cooperative models that are more, or less strategically relevant for sustainable transformation, depending on their underlying social-ecological context. This paper informs theoretically a configurational evaluative framework in this regard, with an eye on a future qualitative comparative analysis of use in this epistemological process. Against a backdrop of institutional and social-ecological literature, the paper successively discusses analytical dimensions of differentiation of cooperative models, conditions that can be constitutive of contextualized configurations, and outcomes of strategic relevance. The paper then discusses the underlying premises and limits of this theoretically informed configurational framework. For instance, the paper explores the limits of a value chain meso-level approach anchored in the perceptions of the stakeholders’ representatives, reducing complex variables to a set of conditions of value chain configuration.
Access to Natural Resources for Whom? Aquaculture in Nam Dinh, Vietnam
(2003) Kleinen, John
"This article deals with the rapid coastal development in three districts of a province in northern Vietnam, Nam Dinh, which is undergoing rapid social and economic changes. Against the backdrop of the effects of global climatic change and large infrastructural works in upstream parts of the Red River delta, the main interest of this article is the history of the imposition of property rights in an area which was long time dominated by state policies towards the use of coastal resources. In this article I will deal exclusively with aquaculture in three coastal districts of Nam Dinh and look at the important changes that occurred over time in this region. A major conflict between state agencies and individuals or groups about the property transfer of coastal mud fields is analysed in order to discuss communal and open access forms of property rights in an area plagued by over-exploitation and resource degradation. The case enables the author to comment upon Hardin's model of the 'tragedy of the commons' and the relevance for a specific Vietnamese geographical and historical case."
Accessing Nature: Agrarian Change, Forest Laws and their Impact on an Adivasi Economy in Colonial India
(2009) Das Gupta, Sanjukta
"This article discusses how changing access to nature impacted an adivasi people, the Hos of Singhbhum. Without romanticizing the pre-British past, it may be argued that for the Hos of the time there had been dependence both on the forest and on cultivation, which had ensured them a minimum livelihood. This paper explores how their access to nature gradually diminished under colonial rule through the twin governmental policies of expansion of the agrarian frontier and restriction of the forests to the indigenous population. This led to the sedentarisation of the adivasis, further contributing towards agrarian expansion in India. However, this article argues that the extension of cultivation did not, however, benefit the Hos. Instead, the nature of the increase in acreage in Singhbhum, led to new agricultural practices, which, together with the restrictive forest laws and lack of new irrigation facilities, led to an agrarian crisis in the region, forcing the Hos to leave their lands and seek their fortunes elsewhere."
Accounting of Agricultural and Nonagricultural Impacts of Irrigation and Drainage Systems
(2003) International Water Management Institute
"This paper is a collaborative research between the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Agricultural Engineering Research Centre of Taiwan. This study contributes to IWMI's program on the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. The research in 2003 consists of two components. First, research in Taiwan continues on estimating the positive and negative externalities of paddy-rice production. Second, research is being conducted in Sri Lanka to assess more broadly the impact of water resource development. In addition, two extensive literature reviews have been completed."
Accounting of Agricultural and Nonagricultural Impacts of Irrigation and Drainage Systems: A Study of Multifunctionality in Rice
(2002) Matsuno, Yutaka; Ko, H. S.; Tan, C. H.; Baker, R.; Levine, Gilbert
"The 'non-commodity' functions associated with agriculture, especially those with non-market outputs, may have significant impacts, positive or negative, on the sustainability of agricultural activity. For example, irrigation facilities that deliver water to rice fields serve a multitude of other beneficial purposes, including provision of water for domestic use, bathing, livestock, trees and other natural vegetation, groundwater recharge and flood control. This study examines the non-commodity functions of rice irrigation in Taiwan, particularly as they relate to society, human health and the environment, and, to the extent possible, quantifies them for some situations in Taiwan. It concludes that the monetary value of the multiple functions of rice irrigation is very substantial-on the order of its commodity value -and decisions about the future of rice agriculture should factor in both types of outputs."
Accra 2008: The Bumpy Road to Aid Effectiveness in Agriculture
(2008) Cabral, Lidia
"The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness will be reviewed at the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra in September 2008. The Paris Declaration establishes operating principles for donors and recipient governments to improve the effectiveness of aid. These include government leadership of the development process, a focus on policy results, greater alignment by donors with national policies and management systems, harmonisation between donors with division of labour, and mutual accountability for development results. These principles are broadly sound for guiding development cooperation with national governments. However, they do not help in addressing the challenges arising in certain areas of assistance. In agriculture, the overwhelmingly private nature of agricultural activities, the roles of non-governmental service providers, the significance of context and the cross-sectoral dimension of policy challenges are some of the reasons why development cooperation in that sector struggles to comply with the Paris principles. The paper sets out areas requiring focused attention in the run-up to Accra 2008."
Adaptive Analysis of Locally Complex Systems in a Globally Complex World
(1999) Lynam, Timothy
"Zambezi Valley agro-ecosystems are environmentally, economically, and institutionally variable. This variability means that it is not possible to measure everything necessary to develop a predictive understanding of them. In particular, because people and their environments are constantly changing, what was measured yesterday may change by tomorrow. "Here, I describe elements of the approach that I have developed to address this problem. Called DAAWN, for Detail as and When Needed, the approach advocates an iterative and multiscaled methodology in which we first capture as broad an understanding of the system as possible and then use awareness developed at this scale to identify where to focus subsequent, more detailed, investigations. Because we cannot hope to measure or monitor everything in these complex and adaptive agro-ecosystems, the approach requires us to make judicious use of all available knowledge about the agro-ecosystem. The DAAWN approach is rooted in systems theory, but is tempered by systems and problems where boundaries are not clearly defined, where nonlinearities are the norm, and where structural and functional change is the order of the day. "I describe a few of the most important data collection tools and methods that were developed to record the knowledge of local people and to observe, monitor, and measure changes in their resources. Of particular importance is the tool that I call a 'spidergram.' This tool, which I used extensively with village informants, symbolizes the DAAWN approach and was a major stimulus for its development. Simulation models provide another very important tool; here, I offer some examples of spatially explicit, multi-agent models. Some key findings of the research on Zambezi Valley agro-ecosystems are also briefly presented."
Adaptive Water Resource Management in the South Indian Lower Bhavani Project Command Area
(2010) Lannerstad, Mats; Molden, David
"This report explores the theory and practice of Adaptive Water Management (AWM) based on a detailed field study in the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A five-step framework is used to analyze the extent to which AWM is practiced and how it could be improved. The analysis shows that the LBP system has increasingly fulfilled the criteria of a complex adaptive system over the years. The main uncertainty factor, rainfall variability, has been considered in a stepwise way during the system change cycles and has been included in the LBP system design. The study shows that in spite of contending with an imperfect irrigation system design and intense competition for water resources, water resource managers and farmers are able to adapt and continue to reap benefits from a productive agricultural system."
Adaptive, Participatory and Integrated Assessment (APIA) of the Impacts of Irrigation on Fisheries, Evaluation of the Approach in Sri Lanka
(2004) Nguyen-Khoa, Sophie; Smith, Laurence; Lorenzen, Kai
"Irrigated agriculture is the largest user of water globally and its development can have significant impacts on inland fisheries. These impacts can be varied and complex, and range from biodiversity concerns to economic impacts and changes in the livelihood opportunities of rural households. There is a need to improve the knowledge of these impacts and integrate their assessment into project planning and implementation. This paper describes an approach designed to meet this challenge and the results of its pilot-testing in Sri Lanka. The approach derives from a literature review of planning and appraisal methodologies, interaction by a multidisciplinary team of researchers and evaluation of the test case."
Adoption and Impacts of Zero Tillage as a Resource Conserving Technology in the Irrigated Plains of South Asia
(2007) Erenstein, Olaf; Farooq, Umar; Malik, R. K.; Sharif, Muhammad
"The recent stagnation of productivity growth in the irrigated areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia has led to a quest for resource-conserving technologies that can save water, reduce production costs and improve production. The present synthesis of two detailed country studies confirmed widespread adoption of zero tillage (ZT) wheat in the rice-wheat systems of India’s Haryana State (34.5% of surveyed households) and Pakistan’s Punjab province (19%). The combination of a significant 'yield effect' and 'cost-saving effect' makes adoption worthwhile and is the main driver behind the rapid spread and widespread acceptance of ZT in Haryana, India. In Punjab, Pakistan, adoption is driven by the significant ZT-induced cost savings for wheat cultivation. Thus, the prime driver for ZT adoption is not water savings or natural resource conservation but monetary gain in both sites. Water savings are only a potential added benefit."
Affirming Life and Diversity: Rural Images and Voices on Food Sovereignty in South India
(International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 2008) Community Media Trust; Satheesh, P. V.; Pimbert, Michel
"Since 2001, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has been co-ordinating an innovative research programme on Sustaining Local Food Systems, Agricultural Biodiversity and Livelihoods. Throughout this action research programme, the emphasis has been on doing research with, for and by people rather than on people for learning and change. Its ultimate goal is to explore how and under what conditions diverse, localised food systems can be sustained in the twenty-first century. This book describes the way co-inquirers are working together in the drylands of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to produce social and ecological knowledge for sustainability and equity. Their collective and empowering experience is vividly captured in the videos which make up the Affirming Life and Diversity film series included in this book."
The African Commons
(2010) Gorenflo, Neal
"Dr. Tendayi Viki was born and raised in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. He is now senior lecturer in social psychology at the University of Kent in England. Currently a visiting fellow at Stanford University, his research interests include intergroup relations and multi-cultural co-innovation. He's also founder of social news site thegoodin.us, which aggregates stories about those who do good in the world. I recently sat down with Dr. Viki to explore the social structure of Zimbabwean villages and their commons-based agricultural practices."
Agent-based Analysis of Agricultural Policies: an Illustration of the Agricultural Policy Simulator AgriPoliS, its Adaptation and Behavior
(2006) Happe, Kathrin; Kellerman, Konrad; Balmann, Alfons
"This paper combines agent-based modeling of structural change with agricultural policy analysis. Using the agent-based model AgriPoliS, we investigate the impact of a regime switch in agricultural policy on structural change under various framework conditions. Instead of first doing a sensitivity analysis to analyze the properties of our model and then examining the introduced policy in an isolated manner, we use a meta-modeling approach in combination with the statistical technique of Design of Experiments to systematically analyze the relationship between policy change and model assumptions regarding key determinants of structural change such as interest rates, managerial abilities, and technical change. As a result, we observe that the effects of policies are quite sensitive to the mentioned properties. We conclude that an isolated analysis of a policy regime switch would be of only minor value for policy advice given the ability of simulation models to examine various potential futures."
Agrarian Land Use Change and Constructions of the Commons: A Case of Indigenous Agriculture Development in Taiwan's Mountain Area
(2011) Lin, Chia-Nan; Tsai, Bor-Wen
"This study aimed to identify different land-use types from indigenous people’s agriculture development in Taiwan’s mountain areas. We focused on the agrarian land use changes, in attempt to analyze these land use types caused by what political and economic processes under mountain agriculture development in Taiwan. Further, we studied on indigenous people’s agrarian land use mechanism to figure out the regimes of resources management in different land use phases that they governed agrarian resources as common-pool resource. For these reasons, Tayah tribe, an indigenous community of Tayal people located in northern Taiwan, was selected for a case study to discuss for the tribe’s complicated progress of mountain agriculture. The result shows that the progress of mountain agrarian land use could be divided into three phases influenced by the political and economic situation. Each phase contains a specific regime about resource management that represents how land resources be interpreted and operated as the commons. These three phases were traditional swidden agriculture period, rice farming production, and diverse cash crops connected with market economy. Based on the findings, land use types which represented management regimes were transformed not only by agricultural process, but also by indigenous people’s cultural contexts. That illustrated land use issues of indigenous tribe especially located in mountain areas were complicated processes. Nowadays, the regime of resources management in local community was vulnerable and much weaker than before. That will be a critical and tough issue when we concerning about the robustness of management regimes especially in complex commons systems."
Agri-Tourism Spatial Development Initiatives in Southern Africa: Are They Enhancing Rural Livelihoods?
(2001) Kepe, Thembela; Ntsebeza, Lungisile
"This paper examines an attempt to kick-start economic growth through the promotion of agriculture and tourism in an impoverished rural region of South Africa."
Agricultura en Amazonia: Crecimiento con Abundancia de Recursos Naturales en una Region Perifirica
(1990) Cunha, Aercio S.; Kyle, Steve C.
"This paper shows how lack of competitiveness for commercial agriculture in Amazonia makes difficult the attraction or retention of mobile factors (capital and labor) generating a state of continuous scarcity for these factors. It is also shown that policies attempting to regain equilibrium in factor proportions like capital subsidies or colonization programs are ineffective. Finally, it is shown that attempts to maximize the return on scarce factors lead to overutilization of natural resource and environmental degradation. Although global price incentives policies can help, technical progress is the important variable for the long run sustainability of agriculture in Amazonia."
Agricultural Abandonment, Suburban Growth, and Forest Expansion in Puerto Rico between 1991 and 2000
(2008) Pares-Ramos, Isabel K.; Gould, William A.; Aide, Mitchell
"The response of local economies to the globalization process can have a large effect on population and land-use dynamics. In countries with a high population density and relatively high levels of education, the globalization process has resulted in a shift in the local economy from agriculture to manufacturing, technology, and service sectors. This shift in the economy has impacted land-use dynamics by decreasing agricultural lands, increasing urban growth, and in some cases, increasing forest cover. This process of economic and forest transition has been well documented in Puerto Rico for the period 1950 to 1990, but some authors predicted that poor planning and continued urban growth would eliminate the gains in forest cover. To investigate the impacts of recent economic changes, we evaluated demographic and land-use changes for 880 barrios (i.e., neighborhoods), the smallest administrative unit, in Puerto Rico using government census data from 1990 and 2000 and land-cover classifications from 1991 and 2000. During this period, the population increased by 284 127 people (8.2%). Most of the growth was in the suburban barrios, whereas urban barrios lost population. This shift was reflected by the construction of more than 100 000 housing units in suburban barrios. Although urban sprawl is perceived as the major land-cover change, urban cover only increased from 10% to 11% between 1990 and 2000, whereas the increase in forest cover was much greater (28% to 40%). Grasslands and shrublands were the major sources of new urban and forest areas in 2000. Although these results are encouraging in terms of increasing forest cover, most of the new development has been concentrated in the coastal plains, which are the location of most of the remaining agricultural areas, a few protected areas, and threatened ecosystems (e.g., mangroves)."
Agricultural Advisory Services and the Market
(2008) Christoplos, Ian
"This paper presents findings of a review of over thirty case studies of field level experience in promoting market orientation in agricultural advisory services. This study was carried out by the Neuchatel Initiative (www.neuchatelinitiative.net), an informal network that has been working with advisory service policy reform for the past twelve years. Advisory services are starting to respond more effectively to the needs of farmers and other value chain actors as they adapt to market demands. Despite significant progress in analysing and understanding how to respond to markets, sustainable enhancement of the capacities of the rural poor to benefit from markets will require a more focused and consistent approach. It is particularly important to critically monitor the outcomes of current pilot efforts in providing quality services and in reaching different rural clients."
Agricultural Biotechnology and the Privatization of Genetic Information: Implications for Innovation and Equity
(2000) Jackson, Lee Ann
"Changes in intellectual property rights systems have led to the privatization of the genetic resources and subsequently to the proliferation of new agricultural biotechnology products. Since these new products have the potential to increase agricultural production while limiting environmental degradation, the benefits from these technologies could be far- reaching. However, while intellectual property rights have successfully encouraged innovation in the private sector, private sector domination of the development of new products may skew the distribution of benefits away from marginally productive agricultural areas where poorer communities live. "The primary purpose of this paper is to examine overlapping systems of intellectual property rights on genetic resources, including traditional plant breeders rights, the UPOV plant variety agreement, and national systems of property rights. The paper will include a discussion of private, public, and common property aspects of genetic resources and how various intellectual property systems effect genetic resource use. The paper will also examine the challenge of creating public policies and legal systems that encourage innovation and ensure the equitable distribution of benefits from genetic resources."
Agricultural Commodities, Trade and Sustainable Development
(International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 2005) Lines, Thomas
"Talks on agricultural trade liberalization at the World Trade Organization must take into account the needs of commodity-dependent developing countries, to ensure that agricultural trade and commodity production will deliver outcomes that favour both the environment and poverty reduction. Alongside the trade negotiations, there are also hot debates amongst a range of actors and networks on ensuring functioning of domestic agricultural markets, improving governance and sustainability in bulk commodity markets among civil society groups. Environmental and conservation groups seek the application of better management practices (BMPs) organized either through segregated supply chains or through preferential access to markets and finance.This group is focused on private regulation, upgrading of buyer-driven chains, and supply chain management. Elsewhere, a cluster of organizations are revisiting supply management to reduce oversupply and price volatility, focusing on learning lessons from the failures of International Commodity Agreements (ICAs). And a group of farmer and development organizations is concerned about growing corporate concentration in commodity markets and the impact of skewed market power on the small and decreasing share of wealth finding its way back to primary producers.This group is focused on competition policy and corporate accountability."
Agricultural Credit and the Build-Up of Social Capital in the Brazilian Amazon Frontier
(2002) Ludewigs, Thomas
"This paper is organized into four sections: first, I present an overview of the social capital literature, with some emphasis on interactions with credit programs and institutions. Next, I will discuss some aspects related to credit policies in the Brazilian Amazon and more specifically in the State of Pará, through the perspective of its institutional dynamics and, into some extent, as a process arising from its regional socioeconomic and political backgrounds. This part builds heavily on a FNO analysis recently published. Third, I want to present shortly some preliminary results of our on-going agricultural credit research in the region, with emphasis given to the impact of rural credit in Land Use - Land Cover Change (LUCC) and in agricultural production, and discuss briefly those results in light of what they represent for regional development. Forth, I will discuss the build-up of social capital in Amazonia, its effect in the performance of rural credit and the interactions with the physical environment and with diverse sectors of society."
Agricultural Groundwater Exploitation: An Experimental Study
(2006) Giordana, Gastón; Montginoul, Marielle; Willinger, Mark
"This paper is the initial part of a larger study motivated by challenges that the current practice in groundwater exploitation poses to sustainable development of coastal zones. The growing pressure on costal groundwater resources, due to the accelerated urban and tourism industry development combined to an irrigation water demand more and more demanding on high water quality, has arisen a commons problem that could have local catastrophic consequences. Notably, the overexploitation of groundwater in coastal zones may lead to water resource degradation as consequence of salt water intrusion into the aquifer. We present the case of the Roussillon coastal plane, a zone located in the Pyrénées-Orientales department (South of France), which is a good representative case of water problems faced in southern Europe. In this region, water demand is satisfied by surface water and a two-layer local aquifer. The superficial layer has sea connections, meaning that overexploitation can generate sea water intrusion. The layers are naturally separated by an impermeable substratum. This independency can be broken by an overexploitation of the deep layer; the impermeable substratum could become locally permeable letting polluted water from the superficial layer percolate. "We concentrate our effort on the agricultural water demand that remains the second one, in quantitative terms, after the urban water demand. Farmers can generally satisfy their needs by extracting water from substitute resources, namely, surface water (from irrigation channels) and groundwater. Due to end-users demand (of crop products) and due to irrigation techniques, farmers prefer groundwater than surface, especially the deep layer. But farmers' water exploitation behavior is not well known: tube wells are not registered even if it is compulsory and there is no water meter. In order to better analyze their behavior under this configuration, we implement laboratory experiments, by studying an N-person discrete-time deterministic dynamic game of T periods fixed duration. The objective function is stage-additive and depends on a state variable, whose dynamic evolution is linked to past decisions of all players. Players have to decide whether to use a private good or, by paying a lump-sum fee, to extract on one of two imperfectly substitute Common-Pool Resources (CPRs). Two type of experiments were done: firstly, we considered only the quantitative problem; in a second step, we introduced the qualitative problem and then the possible connection between the two layers leading non only to an overexploitation of the deep layer but also to its pollution, which impact farmers' income. For each case, two treatments were done. In the affect each CPR separately. In a second treatment, the CPRs are not independent, both types of externalities are considered. The observations are confronted to three benchmark outcomes corresponding to distinct behavioural assumptions: (a) sub-game perfection, (b) joint payoff maximization, and (c) myopic behaviour."
Agricultural Indigenous and Farmers Traditional Knowledge: Rescue, Sistematization and Incorporation to the IEAS
(2006) Gomez Espinoza, Jose Antonio; González, Gerardo Gómez
"Under environmental breakdown context, and the low consideration that in indigenous and farmers communities, the Traditional Agricultural Knowledge (SAT) with low environmental impact are preserved under 'milpa' system and this production is almost the half of national production of this cereal, in this work is suggested to carry the SAT into of Agricultural Superior Institution (IEAS) curricula like a social and ecological pertinent answer of Agricultural Superior Education, this thesis is, a proposed conceptual framework for SAT study, the recovery, systematization, interpretation, identification of Sciences-SAT correspondences and instrumentation under context of apprenticeship education models; to carry them to the academic space under a study program."
Agricultural Information Systems and Communication Networks: The Case of Dairy Farmers in the Samsun Province of Turkey
(2008) Demiryurek, Kursat; Erdem, Huseyin; Ceyhan, Vedat; Atasever, Savas; Uysal, Osman
"Agricultural information systems and communication networks: the case of dairy farmers in the Samsun province of Turkey We recommend that more functional cooperation between public and private information sources in the system is needed to motivate conventional dairy farmers to convert into modern dairy farming system. Analysis of the agricultural information systems and communication network used by members and non-members of the Dairy Cattle Breeders' Association provided a framework to identify the strength and weaknesses of the current systems and led to recommendations to improve their performance. Structured interviews were used to collect data from a randomly selected forty-three members and sixty-five non-members of the Association. Tests of association (e.g., Correlation Coefficient and Kendall's tau) and tests of difference (Student's t test) were performed using SPSS. The main function of the information systems was the dissemination of dairy-farming-related information. Association membership functions as a means to keep more European pure-bred cows and provide financial incentives, rather than developing a modern dairy sector. The non-members of the Association mainly used their current knowledge and traditional practices. The lack of information support from the institutional sources resulted in the development of personal information sources to exchange information and diffuse technology among the farmers themselves. We recommend that more functional cooperation between public and private information sources in the system is needed to motivate conventional dairy farmers to convert into modern dairy farming system."
Agricultural Research Structure and Productivity in Bulgaria
(2021) Hrabrin, Bachev
"This paper gives insight on organization and efficiency of agricultural research in Bulgaria during the period after country’s accession to EU. The analysis is predominately based on the research carried out in the Agricultural Academy—the main institution responsible for the organization of agricultural research in the country. Our analysis has found out that some of the Academy institutes and stations manage significant land and other resources, but the material and technical endowments of the majority of them is outdated, while some have no “critical” mass of human, financial and material resources needed for carrying effective modern research. The number of researchers and experts employed in the Academy is constantly decreasing due to insufficient budget funding, regulatory constraints, restructuring and layoffs, lack of acceptable pay and working conditions, insufficiently qualified candidates in some areas, etc. Since country’s accession to the EU, there has been a significant reduction in the overall expenditure and budget subsidies for agrarian research institutes and centers. Despite multiple “reforms” of the agrarian research system, the country still does not have an effective structure for organization of R&D and public funding systems, coordination and evaluation of research, evaluation and stimulation of researchers and teams, and protection of intellectual agricultural property rights. The trends and problems in the development of agricultural research in universities and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences are similar to those in the Agricultural Academy. There is no aggregated information about the nature and volume of agricultural research conducted by the Bulgarian universities, institutes of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and in the private sector which requires the collection of similar information in the future in order to improve analysis and management."
Agricultural Transformation and Highlander Choice: A Case Study of a Pwo Karen Community in Northwestern Thailand
(2003) Samata, Runako
"During the past several decades, the ethnic highlanders in Northern Thailand have been in general tackling the issue of agricultural transformation in the sense that they have had to continuously search for the optimum trade-off point for each of their villages between the modern competitive market-economy agriculture and traditional local self-efficiency agriculture. With this understanding, the present study focuses on (1) the impacts of national and regional development policies upon local agricultural shifts and (2) the highlander choice under their limited available resources and alternatives in agricultural activities. For this purpose, a Pwo Karen community consisting of two administratively different villages in Mae Sariang district of Mae Hong Son province is selected as the research site. In this framework, the present study investigates the highland villagers' adaptation characteristics in their agricultural transformation as a complex and continuous process which carries the internal dynamism of the community development as well as the external factors for the development promotion of their agricultural production system."
Agricultural Transformation as a Window to Rehabilitation of Common Property Resources
(2006) White, R.; Bhuchar, S. K.; Sthapit, K. M.; Dhakal, M.
"During the last nine years the ICIMOD-coordinated project (People and Resource Dynamics in Mountain Watersheds of the Hindu Kush Himalayas - PARDYP) has looked at natural resource management dynamics in five watersheds of the 'middle mountains' in four countries of the Himalayas. The project identified the centrality of people and the factors influencing their land usage systems, along with the holistic treatment of natural resources, as a key essential step in management of watershed as an integrated pool of resources. Initial baseline surveys of the watersheds helped in understanding major socioeconomic and biophysical constraints to sustainable crop productions and improved livelihoods. Many of the issues thought to be the key issues at the beginning of the project, such as flooding, soil erosion, etc., turned out to be of less importance than other issues such as loss of soil fertility and crop productivity, reduced low season stream flows. The biophysical research allowed some initial opportunities to explore sustainable use of natural resources, including the common property resources (CPRs) as well as private lands. It was recognized that to be able to promote community participation to address the above problems, it was necessary to provide tangible private economic benefits to individual farmers. "The paper presents a number of case studies on rehabilitating degraded community lands in India and Nepal. In both cases understanding the people-dimension proved to be of far greater importance than the biophysical measurements and technical solutions. Examples include community forests in Nepal and degraded village lands that were developed into fodder banks in India. Scarcity of water in the dry season is an increasing problem in the middle mountains as increased demand exceeds the supply. Case studies from India and Nepal show that communities if made aware of the possibilities and given the confidence to develop their ideas can improve and effectively manage water sources. "Farmers in the study watersheds participated in the conservation and protection of CPRs because of their contributions to improved agricultural production options. They were either introduced or developed with farmers by PARDYP. Significant benefits have been gained by adopting and adapting simple appropriate technologies. Examples from Pakistan in a rural watershed with low productivity show 300% increase in farm income based on a combination of increased productivity and increased cropping intensity. There are options that are well suited to mountain farmers that take advantage of their niche conditions - such as off season vegetables. Biofertilisers can be used in places where transport costs for mineral fertilisers precludes their use and therefore maintain or increase soil fertility, which in turn means that cropping intensities can be increased. Improved methods of water management as well as methods of improving supply are being adopted, particularly when associated with another enterprise like fish farming. As a final consequence, effective management of CPR (non-crop lands) proved an attractive bonus-like option resulting from improved agriculture. This is a unique example of CPR-PPR complementarity "
Agricultural Water Storage in an Era of Climate Change: Assessing Need and Effectiveness in Africa
(2013) Rebelo, Lisa-Maria; McCartney, Matthew; Xenarios, Stefanos; Smakhtin, Vladimir
"By mitigating the vagaries of climate variability, agricultural water storage is widely anticipated to make a key contribution to climate change adaptation in Africa. However, if the planning of water storage is not improved, it is likely that many investments will fail to fully deliver intended benefits. This report describes the agricultural water storage continuum and some of the possible implications of climate change. A simple diagnostic tool which can be used to provide a rapid evaluation of the need and effectiveness of different water storage options, under existing and possible future climate conditions, is presented."
Agriculture and Protection of Landscape Area of the White Carpathians
(2003) Krumalova, Veronika; Backman, Stefan
"The protected landscape area of the White Carpathians in Czech Republic is confronted with several threats. The protection of the landscape involves instituted policies and restrictions on production. Due to the approaching EU accession and the possible subsequent institutional changes, there is an increased demand for knowledge on production opportunities and threats. In addition there are immediate concerns on the relation between agricultural production and the environment. One major concern is the abandonment of agricultural land. In this article the combination of production elements and protection is described. Factor analyses are used to identify groups of farms with similarities in production structure and organisation. The results of the factor analysis are compared to typology achieved by interviews. Some important elements with policy and research implications are derived."
Agriculture in the WTO and Rural Development
(2020) BAGDE, RAKSHIT
"Agriculture has been a major occupation of the Indian people since ancient times. Today 65% of the population is dependent on agriculture in various ways. The backbone of agriculture, once considered the backbone of the Indian economy, is crumbling today. The main reason for this is the neglect of agriculture by the government system and the newly started process of globalization. The rural economy that has survived is now on the brink of collapse due to the globalization process in agriculture, which is the only component of agriculture. By signing the WTO Agreement on January 1, 1995, India incorporated the agricultural sector into the process of globalization. In this regard, a secret agreement was reached between India and the United States on December 16, 1999, and India had to lift the numerical restrictions on its protected 715 agricultural commodities. The concept of globalization has been realized through the GATT Agreement, the Dunkel Proposal, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank."
Agriculture Wrapped with Social Networks, Data Mining and Mobile Computing to Boost up Crop Productivity
(2010) Akkanini, Haritha; Junapudi, Vasavi
"'The backbone of Indian economy' –agriculture which is known for its multifunctional success in generating employment, livelihood, food, nutritional and ecological security is facing several problems in improving the crop productivity. As we had good expertise in the field of agriculture the crucial information is not reaching the farmer community in a timely manner. In this paper we made an effort to find a way out to bridge the gap in the broadcast of information so that timely decisions can be taken for a better farming. We are trying to propose a system which provides advisory services as a decision support to farmers on crop related issues using the mobile services. In addition to these, the effort is being made to familiarize this information through a social network where a human being is a resource to influence others instead of mass media. Initially the proposed system is designed to collect the climatic data and it will be passed to the mobiles of all farmers through messages. There is a coordinator for each region to provide suggestions periodically. At the end of cropping, the coordinator will collect the information like• Had the farmer utilized the climatic information• Type of soils• Type of seeds• Pesticides used• Yield information, etcwill be maintained in a database. Applying data mining techniques the results are analyzed. In each location identifying a person, who utilized the services and achieved the higher productivity. He will act as a motivator/educator to other farmers. Through him we will educate/motivate other farmers about to consider and follow the climate alert message information as valuable as mass media."
Agriculture, Water, and Ecosystems
(2007) Falkenmark, Malin; Galaz, Victor
"Agriculture depends on ecosystem functions such as pollination. This means it is closely linked with the health of surrounding ecosystems and should be considered an agro-ecosystem. Crop production systems have been managed as though they were disconnected from the landscape in general. Since the complex systems that make up the landscape are interconnected, this approach threatens the processes that make agriculture sustainable. Past agricultural management has caused wide scale changes in land cover, stream-flow, and groundwater systems. This has undermined the processes that support ecosystems and the services that they provide. Agriculture will continue to be a key driver of ecosystem change in the future."
Agro-morphological qualitative characterization of Jesso-Balam rice (Oryza sativa L.) accessions in Bangladesh - (IJAAR)
(2016) Uddin Ahmed, Mir Sharf; Bashar, Md. Khairul; Wazuddin, Md.; Shamsuddin, AKM
Twenty-seven Jesso-Balam rice accessions of Bangladesh were studied for 21 qualitative agro-morphological characters at BRRI during T. Aman 2009 and T. Aman 2011 seasons. The presence and shape of penultimate leaf ligule showed no variations among the genotypes. Out of 19 characters, majority of the genotypes showed no anthocyanin color in leaf sheath (93%), medium intensity of anthocyanin color in basal leaf sheath (7%), green leaf blade (74%), strong surface pubescence of penultimate leaf blade (48%), no anthocyanin color in auricles and collar (93%), colorless ligule (93%), white color of stigma (93%), erect blade of flag leaf (52%), erect curvature of lateral tiller (100%), no anthocyanin color in nodes (93%), weak intensity of anthocyanin color in nodes (7%), weak intensity of anthocyanin color in internodes (67%), yellowish to straw anthocyanin color of lemma and palea (48%), medium intensity of anthocyanin color in lemma and palea (41%), yellowish/straw color of apiculus (93%), awnless (89%), awns at tip only (11%), yellowish white to straw color awns (100%) and intermediate type of leaf senescence (74%). On the other hand, the Jesso-Balam germplasm along with BR7, BR16, BRRI dhan50 and Nizersail were grouped into three major clusters according to the UPGMA clustering method based on Dice coefficient. Cluster III was the major group with maximum genotypes (26), while clusters I had two (JBPL9 and JBPL23) and cluster II had three genotypes (JBPL13, JBPL15 and JBPL16), respectively. The genetic distance ranged from 0.000 to 9.969. Three pairs of accessions (2465 and 2464), (2455 and 2454) and (2453 and 2478) in cluster III were found duplicates. Finally, the Jesso-Balam pure lines possessed exclusive variability and unique features which need safe conservation and sustainable use in future rice breeding programmes for issues like intellectual property rights.
Agro-Well and Pump Diffusion in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka: Past Trends, Present Status and Future Prospects
(2003) Kikuchi, Masao; Weligamage, Parakrama; Barker, Randolph; Samad, Madar; Kono, H.; Somaratne, H. M.
"This study investigates the pattern, extent and causes of the spread and use of agro-wells and pumps for irrigation in traditional villages and irrigated settlement schemes in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Almost 96 percent of major irrigation schemes (command area more than 80 ha) and 72 percent of minor irrigation schemes are located within the dry zone. Groundwater is the sole or supplementary source of water in irrigating crops. An extensive survey was carried out in all districts in the dry zone. Crystalline rocks are predominant in the area while alluvial aquifers are an important feature in rivers within the study area. In terms of the command area, selected schemes represent more than 30 percent of the command area of major irrigation schemes in the country."
Agroecological transitions and the political ecology of Elinor Ostrom : the role of ontologies and epistemic power in polycentric governance.
(2024) Mazé, Armelle
Agroecological transitions emerged over the last decade as a major issue into the political agenda in several European countries as a response to the loss of biodiversity and as the adoption of more resilient adaptation strategies to climate changes towards more sustainable food systems (Altieri 1995, 2005, Gliessman 2018; FAO ) . Whereas the Green Revolution after WWII was looking mainly in intensifying agricultural production and rising yields of major crops, such as wheat, rice, corn, sugar cane, in order to support food security and respond to quantitative nutritional needs of human populations (Patel, 2013). Retrospectively, this intensification of agricultural activities, through more specialized and monoculture of cropping systems is responsible for the large loss of biodiversity, as well as of many environmental degradations, such water pollution, soil erosion, etc. Concerns emerged about the declining trends and deteriorating ecological elements and their functions in productive agricultural landscapes (Francis et al. 2003). In this context, agroecology emerged as an alternative paradigm to conventional agriculture promoting on more diversified and resilient agri-food systems (Altieri, 1995; Gliessman, Francis et al. 2003; Wezel et al. 2009; Altieri et al 2015; Ollivier et al. 2018). The aim of this communication is to analyse, by proposing an extension of the IAD/SES frameworks (Ostrom (1990, 2009), to the polycentric governance of complex agroecosystems in the context of agroecological transitions. As stressed by Hess and Ostrom 2003 and Denzau and North (1993), It emphasizes the role of shared mental models and rationality involved in system thinking about the dynamics of polycentric governance (McGinnis and Ostrom 2014; Cole et al. 2019). A specific attention will be paid on the role of ontologies in setting the boundary systems and problem setting. To sustain our analysis, several case studies will be explored more precisely in relation to multi risk assesment in the context of climate change adaptation and agroecological transitions. From a classical perspective, farming activities are not considered by themselves as a shared common-pool resources (CPR), in contrast to specific natural resources, such as water, common pasture forestry, etc. that are in fact used and shared by farmers. By broadening her IAD/SES analytical framework, Ostrom (2009) offers new perspectives for the analysis of more complex social-ecological systems (SES), such as human-made agroecosystems and their related social-ecological landscapes. As stressed by Ostrom (2014) “a framework provides a shared orientation for studying, explaining, and understanding phenomena of interest” (Ostrom 2014,269). Our analysis especially emphasizes the role of ideas, artefact and infrastructure in supporting paradigm shift in knowledge regimes and the role of epistemic power in polycentric governance of agroecological transitions. Agroecological transitions are complex and multidimensional processes. Our analysis is sustained by two case studies. One related to the rise of peasant seed networks (Mazé et al. 221 a&b), and the other on recent public policies supporting the integration of sustainability dimensions in geographical indications systems (Mazé 2023).
Agronomie, Agriculture, Forêts
(Publisud, 2008) Richard-Mollard, Daniel; Gillard, Jacques; Le Tacon, Francois; Perfect, Trevor John
"Six experts ont participéà l'Évaluation des sciences agricoles, dans des sous domaines divers. Unrapporteur général a étéchargé derecouper les observations, et desituer/'importance du domaine pourleMaroc (ci après). Nous donnons aussi des extraits derapports spécifiques, concernant l'agronomie et les forêts. Les rapports surles Sols et surl'Eau figurentà la suite."
Agrosilvopastoral Systems in Northern Thailand and Northern Laos: Minority Peoples' Knowledge Versus Government Policy
(2014) Choocharoen, Chalathon; Neef, Andreas; Preechapanya, Pornchai
"Traditional agrosilvopastoral systems have been an important component of the farming systems and livelihoods of thousands of ethnic minority people in the uplands of Mainland Southeast Asia. Drawing on a combination of qualitative and participatory inquiries in nine ethnic minority communities, this study emphasizes the complex articulation of local farmers knowledge which has been so far excluded from governmental development and conservation policies in the northern uplands of Thailand and Laos. Qualitative analysis of local knowledge systems is performed using the Agroecological Knowledge Toolkit (AKT5) software. Results show that ethnic minorities in the two countries perceive large ruminants to be a highly positive component of local forest agro-ecosystems due to their contribution to nutrient cycling, forest fire control, water retention, and leaf-litter dispersal. The knowledge and perceptions of agrosilvopastoral farmers are then contrasted with the remarkably different forestry policy frameworks of the two countries. We find that the knowledge and diversity of practices exercised by ethnic minority groups contrasts with the current simplified and negative image that government officials tend to construct of agrosilvopastoral systems. We conclude that local knowledge of forest-livestock systems can offer alternative or complementary explanations on ecological cause-and-effect relationships which may need further scientific investigation and validation."
Aligning Policy and Real World Settings: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Market Based and Community Governance Instruments in Managing a Commonly Shared Water Resource
(2006) Straton, Anna; Ward, John R.
"The actions of people interacting together to govern common pool resources are guided and governed by formal legislation and regulations and 'informal' attitudes, shared norms and heuristics. Tensions potentially arise when sets of rules intersect and interact, especially sets of formal and informal rules. If those crafting or changing formal rules do not understand how particular sets of rules affect actions and outcomes in a particular ecological and cultural setting, these rule changes may result in rapid, unexpected, and possibly perverse outcomes (Ostrom, 2005). Thus, the effectiveness and durability of a novel set of formal rules and entitlements depends on the degree of integration with existing institutions and the capacity of mechanisms enabling people to adjust to new and changing circumstances. "This paper formally evaluates the durability and cost effectiveness of a novel set of formal rules regarding water use in an irrigation region of Australia and their compatibility with extant informal rules. A rising saline aquifer in the Coleambally Irrigation Area, a corollary of water abstraction and irrigation application, constitutes a common pool resource, characterised by costly exclusion and rival utilisation for regional irrigators. We report on theoretical insights from institutional analysis, network theory and deliberative and participatory methods, and empirically based outcomes of different institutional structures observed in an experimental simulation. Experimental economics was used to test the efficacy of both formal market institutions and group crafted voluntary social contracts to manage the common pool water resource. Based on allied biophysical research, the experimental setting relies on a catchment analogue, which represents the economic decision making and trading environment facing farmers. Observed behavioural responses to policy initiatives were compared according to two metrics: aggregate groundwater recharge and farm income (expressed as player payments) net of non- compliance penalties. The economic and environmental effectiveness and durability of a formal market institution existing with the set of informal rules is analysed and evaluated."
Alleviating Poverty by Linking Smallholders with Agribusiness: Roles of Social Capital and Common Property
(2006) Marshall, Graham R.; Patrick, I.W.; Muktasam, A.; Ambarawati, I.G.A.A.
"Recent decades have witnessed a marked acceleration of agro- industrialisation processes in much of the developing world. This is opening up new opportunities for smallholders, even in isolated areas, to escape poverty by trading in the resulting new markets. There is, however, increasing recognition of the constraints faced by poor smallholders in becoming competitive within such markets. There has also been deepening awareness of the knowledge gaps impeding the design of institutional arrangements capable of surmounting these constraints. The concept of 'social capital' has found itself at the centre of efforts to address these knowledge gaps. "The focus in this paper is on examining what is known about: the challenges of ensuring that the poor share equitably in the benefits of market liberalisation; the extent to which these challenges involve social capital issues; and how such social capital issues might be addressed most effectively. Included in the review is a summary of findings relevant to these issues from recent research in Indonesia - concerned with contract farming and micro-finance delivery, respectively - involving two of the present authors. A proposal for further research involving all four authors is also presented. The research aim is to evaluate the role that social capital plays in Bali and Lombok (eastern Indonesia) in reducing rural poverty by helping smallholders access market opportunities arising from trade liberalisation. A particular focus would be on understanding of the conditions under which social capital in the form of common property institutions helps smallholders to access such opportunities."
Alley Farming in Thailand
(2010) Ogunlana, Elizabeth Adebola; Noomhorm, Athapol; Silakul, Teerapol
"Poverty alleviation and environmental preservation are very important issues to many governments. Alley farming is beneficial to the environment because it conserves soil and sustains yields over time. Specifically, alley farming reduces soil erosion, which is a major problem in Thailand. Alley farming was conducted on a farmer’s field at Khaokwan Thong, a village in Uthaithani Province, Northern Thailand. We did a two-by-two factorial with and without alley farming, and with and without fertilizer. From this study, we observed that the two species used, Leucaena leucocephala and Acacia auriculiformis, grow well in Thailand, and that alley farming is suitable for Thailand. Few Thai farmers have heard about alley farming. However, it is nevertheless useful to know that there is potential for alley farming in Thailand using the two species. These plants, based upon the diameter and height measurements provided, grew well."
Alley Farming: Have Resource-Poor Farmers Benefited?
(1995) Carter, Jane
"Over the past two decades, there has been much scientific interest in the potential of agroforestry for small-scale farming. One form of agroforestry that has received particular attention is alley farming, intended as a sustainable, intensive system that would radically improve the long-term prospects of resource-poor farmers. Although impossible to estimate precisely, total global expenditure on alley farming research, development and promotion to date runs to tens of millions of US dollars. It is now widely recognised that the technology has far less potential than originally anticipated, major limitations having emerged in both its technical and socio-economic characteristics. This paper reviews the documented on-farm performance of alley farming to date, identifying niche areas with some prospects for successful adoption, and suggesting specific areas for further research."
Alternatives for Seed Regulatory Reform: An Analysis of Variety Testing, Variety Regulation and Seed Quality Control
(1997) Tripp, Robert; Louwaars, Niels P.; Van Der Burg, W. Joost; Virk, D.S.; Witcombe, J.R.
"This paper summarises the findings of a recently completed project which examined the conduct of seed regulation in developing countries and produced a set of guidelines for seed regulatory reform. The three areas of seed regulation included in the study were: public sector plant breeding (particularly the management of variety testing); variety regulation (registration, performance testing and release); and seed quality control (seed certification and seed testing). Adjustment to seed regulatory frameworks is necessary because of significant changes in national seed systems. These changes include: reductions in budget for public agricultural research; the failure of many seed parastatals; increasing concern about plant genetic diversity; pressure for the establishment of plant variety protection; the increasing contributions of commercial seed enterprises; and the emergence of innovative local level variety development and seed production initiatives. There are a variety of reasons why current public seed regulation is unsatisfactory. It is not efficiently organised, often uses inappropriate standards, does not offer opportunities for farmer and seed producer participation, and is not sufficiently transparent. At the same time there are a number of options for regulatory reform. In plant breeding, more emphasis should be placed on decentralising variety testing, breeding for particular niches, and making site selection, trial management and analysis more representative of farmers' conditions. In variety regulation, simpler registration procedures are required, and the demands of plant variety protection should not be allowed to bias or limit the development and use of public and farmer varieties. Variety performance testing for release should be made more flexible. In seed quality control, standards should be re-examined for their relevance to particular farming conditions, and much of the responsibility for monitoring seed quality should be passed to seed producers and merchants, accompanied by well defined public oversight and enforcement mechanisms."
Análisis de la Producción Agrícola Extensiva en Sinaloa: Alternativas para el Uso Sostenible del Agua
(2010) Norzagaray Campos, M.; García Gutiérrez, C.; Llanes Cárdenas, O.; Troyo Diéguez, E.; Muñoz Sevilla, P.
"Sinaloa has the highest percentage of agricultural land with irrigation systems in México, this activity is important by the economic contribution, but also there is environmental negative impact. Today the over-exploitation in the aquifers by percolation of pesticides and other remainders causes damages in the ecosystems, and to the human health. On the other hand, agriculture consumes 80% of the fresh water available in the region, by this reason Gulf of California land is consider as over-exploited region. Due to, is important provide conservation strategies to remedy future repercussions on the aquifers and to avoid contamination of fresh water by saline intrusion."
Analisis del Recurso Agua en el Marco de la Teoria Social del Riesgo: El Impacto de las Represas en el Litoral Agentino
(2008) Pagliettini, Liliana; Mirassou, Susana; Zabala, Stella Maris
"El objetivo del trabajo es analizar las características e implicaciones de los riesgos derivados de la difusión del cultivo de arroz con riego, en la cuenca del río Miriñay en Corrientes, centrada en la competencia por el recurso agua. Se identifican cuatro componentes desde la perspectiva del riesgo ambiental: a) la peligrosidad, dado que 5 subcuencas presentan la mayor probabilidad de déficit hídrico por la potencial demanda de agua para riego; b) la exposición se cuantificó en función de un análisis comparativo de los cambios en el uso del suelo en los 5 departamentos que abarca la cuenca, registrando un incremento del 62% la superficie sembrada con arroz, en un área heterogénea donde se identificaron 14 paisajes; c) para medir la vulnerabilidad se utilizaron los datos del censo 2002, identificando dos sistemas productivos agrícola-ganadero y ganadero; y, d) la incertidumbre. Las explotaciones agropecuarias relacionadas con los diferentes sistemas productivos presentan características estructurales y socioeconómicas diferentes, pudiendo destacarse una significativa concentración de los factores tierra, agua y capital. En el plano institucional destacan la ausencia de estudios hidrológicos que permitan conocer la oferta y la demanda de cada cuenca; la falta de capacitación técnica y gerencial, así como las limitaciones operativas del Estado dificultan la organización de los diferentes subsistemas que interactúan."
Analysing Institutions, Policies, and Farming Systems for Sustainable Agriculture in Central and Eastern European Countries in Transition
(2001) Gatzweiler, Franz W.; Backman, Stefan; Sipilainen, Timo; Zellei, Anett
"The aim of this paper is to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework for the analysis of institutions, policies and farming systems for agri-environmental sustainability in Central and Eastern European countries in transition. The basic unit of analysis is the 'agri-environmental action scenario'. The action scenario consists of a set of components which together shape the outcomes of an agri-environnmental action situation. The framework consists of 1) the environmental effects of transition, 2) policies, institutions, and 4) farming systems. We aim at characterising these key elements of the framework, their relationship and interactions, and their role in achieving sustainability at the interface between agriculture and the environment. Environmental areas of concern are: water, soil and biodiversity. The paper intends to create a common understanding of basic concepts and a shared conceptual model among the members of the Central and Eastern European Sustainable Agriculture (CEESA) Network. The framework will be adapted according to new insights and findings during the course of research activities of the CEESA research project."
The Analysis and Estimation of Efficiency of Agroindustrial Formations of Holding Type of the Belgorod Region
(2012) Shedy, E.
"Socio-economic reforms carried out in the Russian Federation, led to the emergence of large agro-industrial associations - agricultural holdings, which differ in their structure, resource and investment potential, and able to make a significant contribution to solving the problem of food security, both individual regions and the country as a whole. The paper assesses the efficiency of agricultural holdings in the example of the Belgorod region and identify the prospects for their development."
Analysis of Profitability and Risk in New Agriculture Using Dynamic Non-Linear Programming Model
(2010) Sharma, Rakesh Kumar; Sankhayan, Prem Lall; Singh, Ranveer
"Cropping pattern in the Himalayan region of India has undergone a significant change in the recent past. Introduction of horticultural crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers has led to more intensive agriculture. Such a change, resulting in higher incomes and improvements of the overall living conditions has, however, been accompanied with increased income risk. This emphasizes the need for proper analysis of the cropping pattern, at an appropriate scale, such as a micro watershed. This was achieved by constructing a dynamic non-linear programming model incorporating appropriate objective function, constraints and crop and livestock activity budgets along with risk component present in the gross returns. The model was then solved under alternate policy scenarios by using General Algebraic Modeling Systems (GAMS) for the next 20 years. The optimum cropping plans were then compared with each other and with the existing plan. Tomato and carnation are the preferred crops, if the sole objective is profit maximization. Optimum plan with risk consideration was also assessed by fixing the variance in gross returns at the current level. It reduced the area under tomato in rainy season by growing capsicum and beans. Similarly, peas replaced tomato in winter season and chrysanthemum replaced carnation. By comparing it with the existing plan, it can be inferred that the people are more concerned to risk than the profits. The profits and risks from floriculture are relatively very high as compared to other crops. By removing constraints in credit availability, irrigation facilities, transportation and market yards, large scale production of vegetables and flowers can help in raising the income level."
An Analysis of Property Rights, Land Value, and Agriculture Investment on Two Frontiers in Brazil
(1993) Alston, Lee J.; Libecap, Gary D.
"In this paper, we examine the determinants of property rights and their interplay with agricultural investment and land value in two Brazilian states, Parana and Para."
Analysis of Surface Soil Moisture Patterns in Agricultural Landscapes Using Empirical Orthogonal Functions
(2009) Korres, W.; Koyama, C. N.; Fiener, P.; Schneider, K.
"Soil moisture is one of the fundamental variables in hydrology, meteorology and agriculture. Nevertheless, its spatio-temporal patterns in agriculturally used landscapes affected by multiple natural (rainfall, soil, topography etc.) and agronomic (fertilisation, soil management etc.) factors are often not well known. The aim of this study is to determine the dominant factors governing the spatio-temporal patterns of surface soil moisture in a grassland and an arable land test site within the Rur catchment in Western Germany. Surface soil moisture (0–6 cm) has been measured in an approx. 50×50 m grid at 14 and 17 dates (May 2007 to November 2008) in both test sites. To analyse spatio-temporal patterns of surface soil moisture, an Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis was applied and the results were correlated with parameters derived from topography, soil, vegetation and land management to connect the pattern to related factors and processes. For the grassland test site, the analysis results in one significant spatial structure (first EOF), which explains about 57.5% of the spatial variability connected to soil properties and topography. The weight of the first spatial EOF is stronger on wet days. The highest temporal variability can be found in locations with a high percentage of soil organic carbon (SOC). For the arable land test site, the analysis yields two significant spatial structures, the first EOF, explaining 38.4% of the spatial variability, shows a highly significant correlation to soil properties, namely soil texture. The second EOF, explaining 28.3% of the spatial variability, is connected to differences in land management. The soil moisture in the arable land test site varies more during dry and wet periods on locations with low porosity."
Analysis of Water Footprints of Rainfed and Irrigated Crops in Sudan
(2011) Ahmed, Shamseddin Musa; Ribbe, Lars
"Water rather than land is the limiting factor for crop production in Sudan. This study attempts to use the water footprint (WFP) and virtual water concepts to account for crops water consumption under the Sudanese rainfed and irrigated conditions. The general average of the green WFP of sorghum and millet were found to be about 7700 and 10700 m3 ton-1, respectively. According to experimental results at three different climates, in-situ rainwater harvesting techniques could reduce the WFP of rainfed sorghum by 56% on the average. The blue component (surface water) shows the highest contribution to the total WFP of irrigated crops: 88% for cotton, 70% for sorghum, 68% for groundnut and 100% for wheat. However, the role of the green water (rainwater) is not marginal since it largely influences the operation and maintenance (silt clearance) of the gravity-fed irrigation system. Under normal conditions, the annual total virtual water demand of sorghum (the dominant food crop in Sudan) is found to be 15 km3, of which 91% is green water. During a wet year a surplus of 5 km3 of water can be saved. During a dry year, however, Sudan could experience a deficit of 2.3 km3 of water, necessitating the adoption of a wise food stocking-exporting policy."
Analyzing Institutional Successes and Failures: A Millennium of Common Mountain Pastures in Iceland
(1991) Eggertsson, Thráinn
"Throughout their history, the island economies of the North Atlantic have relied to a large extent on common property resources both in agriculture and in the fisheries. It is well established that the sharing of resources need not always lead to a full-scale dissipation of wealth, the tragedy of the commons, when certain conditions are met. However, it is also well known that communities often fail to establish institutions for restricting entry to the commons, and, even when they exist, these institutions are often fragile structures, vulnerable to pressures from population growth, technological change, and shifts in political power and processes. Therefore, it is of considerable interest to examine the evolution of property rights to natural resources in the North Atlantic communities, such as Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes, and investigate whether institutions did emerge in these societies that effectively regulated entry and prevented the dissipation of their natural resources. The present study is concerned with the law and economics of Icelandic agriculture, specifically with the institutions that for more than a thousand years have regulated the use of the country's extensive common mountain pastures."
Application of Vegetation Indices for Agricultural Crop Yield Prediction Using Neural Network Techniques
(2010) Panda, Sudhanshu Sekhar; Ames, Daniel P.; Panigrahi, Suranjan
"Spatial variability in a crop field creates a need for precision agriculture. Economical and rapid means of identifying spatial variability is obtained through the use of geotechnology (remotely sensed images of the crop field, image processing, GIS modeling approach, and GPS usage) and data mining techniques for model development. Higher-end image processing techniques are followed to establish more precision. The goal of this paper was to investigate the strength of key spectral vegetation indices for agricultural crop yield prediction using neural network techniques. Four widely used spectral indices were investigated in a study of irrigated corn crop yields in the Oakes Irrigation Test Area research site of North Dakota, USA. These indices were: (a) red and near-infrared (NIR) based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), (b) green and NIR based green vegetation index (GVI), (c) red and NIR based soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and (d) red and NIR based perpendicular vegetation index (PVI). These four indices were investigated for corn yield during 3 years (1998, 1999, and 2001) and for the pooled data of these 3 years. Initially, Back-propagation Neural Network (BPNN) models were developed, including 16 models (4 indices * 4 years including the data from the pooled years) to test for the efficiency determination of those four vegetation indices in corn crop yield prediction. The corn yield was best predicted using BPNN models that used the means and standard deviations of PVI grid images. In all three years, it provided higher prediction accuracies, coefficient of determination (r2), and lower standard error of prediction than the models involving GVI, NDVI, and SAVI image information. The GVI, NDVI, and SAVI models for all three years provided average testing prediction accuracies of 24.26% to 94.85%, 19.36% to 95.04%, and 19.24% to 95.04%, respectively while the PVI models for all three years provided average testing prediction accuracies of 83.50% to 96.04%. The PVI pool model provided better average testing prediction accuracy of 94% with respect to other vegetation models, for which it ranged from 89–93%. Similarly, the PVI pool model provided coefficient of determination (r2) value of 0.45 as compared to 0.31–0.37 for other index models. Log10 data transformation technique was used to enhance the prediction ability of the PVI models of years 1998, 1999, and 2001 as it was chosen as the preferred index. Another model (Transformed PVI (Pool)) was developed using the log10 transformed PVI image information to show its global application. The transformed PVI models provided average corn yield prediction accuracies of 90%, 97%, and 98% for years 1998, 1999, and 2001, respectively. The pool PVI transformed model provided as average testing accuracy of 93% along with r2 value of 0.72 and standard error of prediction of 0.05 t/ha."
Applying Efficiency Analysis to Small Farms in Low Income Countries: Some Theoretical and Empirical Considerations
(1980) Pachico, Douglas
"The success of policies for raising agricultural productivity and improving the welfare in low income countries may often depend very substantially upon the quality of decision making by farmers. For example, both the rate of diffusion and the magnitude of the benefits derived from new agricultural technologies may be significantly related to farmer decision skills. The better farmers are able to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of new techonologies and the sooner farmers learn to use new techonologies, the faster will be the spread of profitable new technologies. Likewise, as farmers become more highly skilled in managing new technologies, they will realize the full potential benefits of new techniques."

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