The new agrarian change?

Liz Deakin, Mrigesh Kshtryia, Frédéric Baudron, Terry SunderlandAssociation for Tropical Biology Conference – Honolulu, 14th July 2015

The New Agrarian Change? Exploring the dynamic interplay between forest conservation, food security and commodity production in tropical forest landscapes

Photo credits: CIFOR

Agrarian change in tropical forest landscapes

Natural vegetation ‘Secondary’ vegetation Agricultural land

Agrarian change in tropical landscapes

Agricultural modification

Tree

cov

er


Land sharing


Agrarian change in tropical landscapes

Tree

cov

er

Natural vegetation

‘Secondary’ vegetation

Agricultural land

Land sparing

Land sparing & land sharing

Vs.

Food productionBiodiversity conservation


• Many opinions, responses and discussion on the land sharing / land sparing debate (e.g. Green et al. 2005, Fischer et al. 2011, Ziegler et al. 2011, Phalan et al. 2011, 2014, Clough et al. 2011, Ewers 2009, Baudron et al. 2014, Perfecto & Vandermeer 2010 and others)

• Full complexities of multi-functional landscapes not considered by only looking at trade offs between biodiversity conservation and agricultural yields

Land sparing & land sharing: moving forwardAgriculture – Biodiversity Nexus

• Land use strategies aimed at balancing agriculture and biodiversity conservation must also consider socio-economic constraints and trade-offs, as well as trade offs with biodiversity conservation

(Grau et al. 2013, Fischer et al. 2014, Lee et al. 2014)

• More food production does not automatically lead to better food security and better livelihoods for rural communities

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Addressing the agriculture-biodiversity nexus

Food security

Ecosystem services

Nutrition

Sustainable livelihoods

Access to markets

Poverty alleviation

Wild food & products

Project Aim:Advance our

understanding of agricultural landscapes as socio-ecological systems

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Food security

Ecosystem services

Nutrition


Access to markets

Poverty alleviation


What effect does agrarian change have on social AND ecological responses in tropical forest landscapes?

Underlying drivers behind land use change?

Community perceptions of land use change?

Project Aim:Advance our

understanding of agricultural landscapes as socio-ecological systems

?


Addressing the agriculture-biodiversity nexus

Study Sites

FOREST (CONTROL) ZONE 1 ZONE 3ZONE 2

Agricultural modification (simplification and intensification of commodities)

Tree

cov

erExperimental Design

A landscape-level approach, with a nested 3-level hierarchical design:

1. A landscape exhibiting changing land use practices and agrarian change

2. Three land use ‘zones’ in each landscape, a gradient of agricultural modification

3. Villages or settlements within each zone

1

2

3


Experimental Design



Tree

cov

er

Subsistence farming, high dependency on

forest products





1

2

3


Experimental Design



Tree

cov

er

E.g. Subsistence farming, high dependency on forest resources

E.g. Rubber agroforestry system


forest products Extensive coffee

agroforesty





1

2

3





Experimental Design



Tree

cov

er

E.g. Subsistence farming, high dependency on forest resources

E.g. Rubber agroforestry system E.g. Oil palm

monoculture


forest products Extensive coffee

agroforestyIntensive oil palm

monoculture

1

2

3

Field Methods

In each zone the following methods were used:

Household Surveys

Focus Group Discussions

Key Informant Interviews

Farm Productivity

Surveys

BiodiversitySurveys

Yield measurements

Farm inputs (e.g. fertilizer, labour)

Production targets

Resource flow mapping

Wealth ranking

Food / cash calendars

Nutrition assessments

Ecosystem service mapping

Community perceptions

Tree plots

Bird point counts

Invertebrate trapping

MET

HO

DS

BiodiversityRelative povertyNutrition

Food securityEcosystem services Livelihoods

Agricultural production

RESP

ON

SES

Study site: Kapuas Hulu, Kalimantan, Indonesia

Primary forest

Rubber agroforestry

Oil palm plantation

Oil palm concession


Primary forest

Rubber agroforestry

Oil palm plantation

Oil palm concession


Primary forest

Rubber agroforestry

Oil palm plantation

Oil palm concession


Primary forest

Rubber agroforestry

Oil palm plantation

Oil palm concession


Agrarian ChangePrimary forest

Rubber agroforestry

Oil palm plantation

Oil palm concession

Photo credits: Dominic Rowland

Food security

Ecosystem services

Nutrition


Access to markets

Poverty alleviation


• A LOT OF DATA ANALYSIS!

• Provide empirical evidence to examine socio-economic trade offs within land sparing / sharing debate

• Advance our understanding of agricultural landscapes as socio-ecological systems

• There is much more to food security than increasing agricultural production…..

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Next steps….

AcknowledgementsCo-investigators: Mrigesh Kshtryia (CIFOR)Terry Sunderland (CIFOR)Frédéric Baudron (CIMMYT)

Collaborators, PhD and Masters students:Sarah Gergel & Ian Eddy (University of British Columbia)Unai Pasquel & Ignacio Polomo (BC3)Samson Foli (University of Amsterdam) Abdoulaye Rabdo (CIFOR Burkina Faso)Ronju Ahammad (Charles Darwin University)Dominic Rowland (London School of Tropical Hygiene & Medicine)Rio Leonald (Bogor Agricultural University)Stella Asaha (Pan African Institute for Development)Kondwani Yobe Mumba & Davison Gumbo (CIFOR Zambia)Jean-Yves Duriaux (CIMMYT Ethiopia)

Funding:DfID, UKUSAID

Halimun Salak National Parklandscape, Indonesia

Photo credit: CIFOR

Thank [email protected]

Photo credit: CIFOR

Environment

The new agrarian change?