Impacts and causes of land fragmentation, and lessons learned from land consolidation in South Asia

Landholdings and land parcels in South Asia are undergoing fragmentation, thereby accelerating the pace of their degradation and constraining agricultural development. Based on experiences gained in the region and elsewhere, this paper finds the fragmentation of small landholdings and tiny land parcels detrimental to land conservation and economic gain, thereby discouraging farmers from adoption of agricultural innovations. Primarily induced by the dependency of the major proportion of ever growing population on agriculture, the process of land fragmentation has been reinforced by the law of inheritance of paternal property, lack of progressive tax on inherited land, heterogeneous land quality and an underdeveloped land market. South Asian countries have had adopted policies and legal measures for facilitating land consolidation. However, desirable results were not achieved, as such interventions could not address structural causes of the problem. Broad policy and legal measures have been outlined for facilitating land consolidation in a sustainable way.     

Impact of land fragmentation and non-agricultural labor supply on circulation of agricultural land management rights

This study quantitatively examines the effects of land fragmentation and non-agricultural labor supply on the circulation of agricultural land management rights. The examination is conducted from the perspective of labor heterogeneity and family joint decision-making, using the rural fixed observation point data from the Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China. The results reveal that land fragmentation significantly affects circulation decisions of agricultural land circulation. Land fragmentation strengthens the effect of non-agricultural labor supply on agricultural land outflow, and this effect is more pronounced among females. Compared with males, the female non-agricultural labor supply has a greater effect on agricultural land circulation. When non-agricultural labor supply increases, the effect of the female non-agricultural labor supply on agricultural land circulation becomes significant, land outflows increase, and land inflows decrease. In the areas of eastern, central, and northeastern China, the female non-agricultural labor supply has a significant impact on agricultural land outflow. Furthermore, the number of land plots strengthens the effect of the non-agricultural labor supply on the outflows of agricultural land in eastern and northeastern China; this effect is more pronounced for females in northeastern China. The government and related departments should strengthen non-agricultural employment training, and design conditions and policies to promote the orderly transfer of household labor, thus achieving intense agricultural development in the process of human urbanization.     

Towards sustainable rural development in Central and Eastern Europe: Applying land consolidation

Over the past twenty years, social and economic decline in rural areas has intensified in the Central and Eastern European countries. A precondition for the reversal of this decline is the implementation of new policies in relation to the fundamentals of land ownership and management. In addition to addressing the problems of land ownership fragmentation, these should include measures to improve agricultural production and employment, taxation policy, and legislation to protect land ownership rights, within the context of acknowledging environmental and sustainability considerations. In Europe, the requirement for readjusting unfavourable land fragmentation and promoting the appropriate use of land combining with positive environmental solutions is expected to create new sustainable land management systems. The consolidation of land ownerships may be an effective and active land management instrument which not only addresses the problems of land fragmentation, but also, if applied sensitively, may be an instrument for delivering sustainable rural development in a wider context. The aim of this research is to investigate land consolidation as an essential tool to create sustainable rural areas in Lithuania.     

Implications of CAP reform for land management and runoff control in England and Wales

WTO negotiations, as well as problems associated with intensive agriculture, such as overproduction, dependency on high levels of subsidies, diffuse pollution, soil degradation and loss of wildlife, have led to a reconsideration of agricultural policies in Europe. In April 2005, the new common agricultural policy (CAP)-reform came into force in the United Kingdom, decoupling financial support to farmers from agricultural production. Farm income support payments are now linked to compliance with standards (cross-compliance rules) which protect the environment, animal health and welfare. In the light of these policy changes, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 36 farmers in five catchments in the UK to explore interrelationships between CAP-reform, agricultural land management and runoff-related problems. Results from three catchments are specifically highlighted because of their relevance for soil policy.The CAP-reform appears to facilitate and accelerate changes in the agricultural sector that were already happening. It is likely that upland livestock farms will extensify further, which will reduce environmental burdens such as diffuse pollution, soil compaction and runoff. The uptake of agri-environment schemes by individual farmers has increased since the CAP-reform. However, additional impacts are limited as there is a tendency among participants to enter these schemes based on existing features and practices.Although most farmers interviewed for this study appear to recognise the need to reduce soil erosion and diffuse pollution, they are less convinced they should be held responsible for controlling storm-water runoff from farmland that might contribute to flooding downstream. However, there are opportunities to achieve several objectives simultaneously, including improved soil management, runoff control and reduced pollution. Lessons can be learned from farmers’ opinions about CAP-reform, from successful interventions that aimed to reduce soil erosion and diffuse pollution, and also from failures. Recommendations are made for improvements to the current agri-environment schemes and to promote land management practices with less environmental burden.     

Land reform and land fragmentation in Central and Eastern Europe

It has often been stated that land fragmentation and farm structures characterized by small agricultural holdings and farms divided in a large number of parcels have been the side-effect of land reform in Central and Eastern Europe. This article reports the findings of a study of land reform in 25 countries in the region from 1989 and onwards and provides an overview of applied land reform approaches. With a basis in theory on land fragmentation, the linkage between land reform approaches and land fragmentation is explored. It is discussed in which situations land fragmentation is a barrier for the development of the agricultural and rural sector. The main finding is that land fragmentation is often hampering agricultural and rural development when both land ownership and land use is highly fragmented.     

The land sparing – land sharing controversy: Tracing the politics of knowledge

Feeding 9 billion people by 2050 on one hand, and preserving biodiversity on the other hand, are two shared policy goals at the global level. Yet while these goals are clear, they are to some extent in conflict, because agriculture is a major cause of biodiversity loss, and the path to achieve both of them is at the heart of a public controversy around ‘productive’ land use and biodiversity conservation. Over the years, the scientific, policy, civil society and agri-business communities have been engaged in producing evidence that can support a land sparing policy (separating intensive agricultural production from biodiversity conservation) or a land sharing policy (integrating the two in larger and more extensive landscapes). This paper contributes to this debate by analyzing land sparing and land sharing (LSS) as a socio-technical controversy. Through the analysis of large and small corpora of scientific, policy, corporate social responsibility and sustainability standards documents we explore the ethical underpinnings and social networks that support the opposing sides of this controversy. We explore these linkages in order to explain how the concept of land sparing achieved dominance in the scientific literature and how the concept has been taken up in international policy, business and civil society circles. We examine the convergences and divergences in alliances between actors in this controversy in order to map how specific actors have promoted the concept of land sparing as the best way to used land for biodiversity and food production.     

Changes resulting from a land consolidation project (LCP) and its resource–environment effects: A case study in Tianmen City of Hubei Province,China

Land consolidation (LC) is essential for ensuring rural development and for increasing land use effectiveness. LC has been implemented in China since the mid-1990s in an attempt to increase available cropland area, reduce fragmentation and promote agricultural production capacity. The purpose of this study is to identify the changes resulting from the land consolidation project (LCP) implementation, and to develop a parametric approach to assess the resource–environment effects. This study could promote the LCP planning, and provide the support for the decision-making of the LC authorities. The Tianmen land consolidation project in Hubei Province of China was chosen as a case study. The results of the case study showed LCP implementation results in great changes in land use types and their proportions, connectivity of field-roads, irrigation systems and drainage systems, plot numbers, plot shape and plot size. These changes bring both positive and negative effects to region environmental and economic system. Positive effects were demonstrated in agricultural production capacity and agricultural production cost and the negative effects were expressed by the ecosystem services value, landscape diversity and human disturbance intensity.     

Effects of land urbanization and land finance on carbon emissions: A panel data analysis for Chinese provinces

The rapid urbanization in China comes with several economic, social, and environmental issues, most of which are related to land use. This study contributes to research on the land–growth–environment nexus by investigating the effect of land urbanization and land finance on carbon emissions in China from 2004 to 2013 using the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model. Results show that land finance and land urbanization significantly affect carbon emissions. The rate of land urbanization contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions; however, it has less impact compared with other determinants. The effect of land finance and land urbanization on carbon emissions indicates that a local government’s willingness to lease land for revenue aggravates carbon emissions. Economic growth and industrial structure also influence carbon emissions. Furthermore, the land requisition system and rural land conversion market should be enhanced through the guidance provided by the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) to promote the diversification of land transfer, fully consider regional differences, and establish a distinct policy focus that can contribute to emission reduction and land use.     

The trends in bioeconomy development in the European Union: Exploiting capacity and productivity measures based on the land footprint approach

Bioeconomy comprises a novel approach towards economic development in the European Union (EU). Its development should be confined by the planetary boundaries (biocapacity). We integrate the land footprint approach related to production and land biocapacity to assess the trends in capacity and productivity of bioeconomy in the EU countries throughout 1997–2013. Results show that the level of production-based land footprint and land biocapacity vary across the EU countries. However, Belgium is the sole case where production-based land footprint exceeds land biocapacity. The highest possibilities for development of the bioeconomy sector are observed for Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia. Meanwhile, Estonia, Denmark and the United Kingdom have almost achieved the level of land biocapacity. Considering the catch up growth rate, almost all of the EU countries (with exception of Greece, France, Italy and Romania) show increasing footprint-to-biocapacity ratios with the highest values for Estonia and Latvia. The significant absolute decoupling between production-based land footprint and agricultural value added is observed in Denmark. Meanwhile, Italy, Lithuania and Spain show relative decoupling. Thus, these countries should pay particular attention to productivity improvements in forestry and agriculture. This study contributes to setting the targets for bioeconomy policy that can support the sustainable and efficient use of biological resources.     

Fragmentation of land ownership in Slovakia: Evolution,context, analysis and possible solutions

Land ownership fragmentation is currently a very topical issue in Slovakia. In particular, small farmers complain that even 30 years after the end of the previous (“real socialist”) regime, there has been no significant change in the structure of agricultural land use. The subject of the article is not the land fragmentation in terms of use. In Slovakia, the problem is rather the opposite. This contribution deals with fragmentation of ownership that is mostly invisible in the landscape. Usage still dominates over the ownership and the real landowner cannot get his or her own property in a simple way. The reason for this is huge fragmentation of land ownership, which makes it virtually impossible to actually claim it. Well known solution is the land consolidation that does not advance at a rate that would guarantee the rights (and obligations) of all owners in the foreseeable future in Slovakia. Neglecting the land fragmentation by authorities leads to tense situations between landowners and land tenants and also co-causes a stagnation of rural development and issues with landscape protection. The paper describes the specific state of land ownership in Slovakia and attempts to explain this complicated situation on a sample of 50 historical and modern ownership documents. This contribution has the ambition to specify the largely yet unresolved problems that arise from the current state of massive fragmentation of land ownership. The aim of the paper is also to fill in the information gap on the topic, not only in the national context.     

Agricultural land use change in Karamoja Region,Uganda

We examine dramatic cropland expansion in Karamoja, Uganda by investigating the links between biophysical and political historical events leading to the current state of agricultural land use. Our objective was to quantify agricultural expansion, uncover the dominant drivers leading to the current state of agricultural land use and its impacts on livelihoods. Region wide analysis of remotely sensed data, land use policy and history as well as farmer interviews were undertaken. We posit that government programs instituting sedentary agriculture are the most significant drivers of cropland expansion in Karamoja. We show a 299% increase in cropland area between 2000 and 2011 with most expansion occurring in Moroto District (from 706 ha to 23,328 ha). We found no evidence of an increase in overall crop production or food security and food aid continues to be essential due to recurrent crop failures. Due to lack of resources for inputs (e.g., seeds and labor) cultivated fields remain very small in size and over 55% of once cultivated land is left fallow. Our findings bring into question whether continued promotion of rain-fed agriculture in Karamoja serves the best interests of the people. Current cropland expansion is directly competing and compromising pasture areas critical for livestock-based livelihoods. Without strong agricultural extension programs and major investments in climate-smart options, cropland expansion will continue to have a net negative impact, especially in the context of current climate projections which indicate a future decrease in rainfall, increase in temperature and an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme events.     

Whereto land fragmentation–land grabbing in Romania? The place of negotiation in reaching win–win community-based solutions

The present study seeks to discuss and advance the understanding of land fragmentation and land grabbing within Romania's economic historiography landmarks, depicting how the origins of the land property issues are deeply embedded politically, socially, and culturally in history and still strongly exist in today's collective mind. Scientific evidence on the perceptions and behaviors of land owners regarding land grabbing was obtained through a non-probabilistic survey. The data collection instrument was a structured questionnaire, which was applied through face-to-face interviews to a sample of 52 Romanian land owners from various regions of the country. The results show that in the land owners’ perception, if land is sold to foreigners, national security is the most vulnerable aspect. Regarding the preference for the nationality of the land buyer, the majority of the people investigated prefer to sell to a Romanian buyer, thus making a clear statement in favor of the Romanian ownership of the land. The empirical results are placed in the context of a bottom-up approach—negotiation, with a high potential, unexplored in Romania, for implementing win–win agricultural solutions. Negotiation is valued as part of the answer to land fragmentation–land grabbing, a “back and forth” matter. The study recommends several measures for land use policy, tailored according to specific Romanian conditions, such as using an open access electronic registry of foreign land acquisitions, establishing a threshold for these acquisitions, and securing the preservation of the agricultural destination of land. In a political and economic context where land fragmentation and grabbing are two realities that are hard to deny and separate, a significant implication of the research is the enrichment of knowledge related to the sources of the “chronical” nature of fragmentation and to land owners’ attitude toward land grabbing, thus contributing to the design and implementation of future integrative land use solutions.     

Zionism and agricultural land: National narratives,environmental objectives,and land policy in Israel

The 1990s saw two different and even contradictory trends in Israel. On the one hand, there was a substantial increase in environmental awareness, on the part of both the general public and decision-makers, that led to a change in the land use planning policy at the national level. On the other hand, the Israel Lands Council (ILC), the body empowered by law to shape the national land policy, made a series of decisions that severely violated the principle of preserving agricultural land and led to massive conversion of agricultural land and open space for commercial, industrial, and residential development. Thus the national land policy became incompatible with the land use planning policy and the rise in environmental awareness it reflected.     

苏北平原农业资源调查及利用评价

[目的]为了推动苏北平原现代农业的发展,针对苏北平原农业资源进行调查,评价苏北平原农业资源的利用效率,为促进农业资源的可持续利用提供参考。[方法]文章以苏北平原农业资源为出发点,利用行政区的划分对各市农业资源展开调查,构建资源丰度指数模型对农业资源进行评价,采用层次分析法构建苏北平原农业资源利用评价指标体系,基于指标权重,构建可持续发展模型对农业资源作出评价。[结果]苏北平原农业资源的利用效率较高,各市的土地资源都较充足,水资源指数分析结果表明盐城市水资源最充足,而连云港市和宿迁市的水资源较为缺乏,其丰度指数分别为0.410 6和0.601 2。此外,各市水资源情况都存在不同程度的污染现象,而农村生活水平也有待提高。[结论]苏北平原农业资源利用效率较高,土地资源和水资源整体上都较充足,但存在水资源污染、明显的城市分配不均的现象,农村发展整体发展水平比较落后。对此,应该立足农业资源,改善生态环境,建设生态农业,加大农村建设力度,促进苏北农业健康协调地发展。     

Soil-specific agro-ecological strategies for sustainable land use – A case study by using MicroLEIS DSS in Sevilla Province (Spain)

To reverse the negative environmental impacts of agriculture, a land evaluation decision support system (DSS) known as MicroLEIS-DSS was used to design the most sustainable land use and management practices for selected Mediterranean benchmark sites in Sevilla Province, Southern Spain. This DSS is based on the multifunctional evaluation of soil quality, using input data collected in standard soil surveys, and with particular reference to the peculiarities of the Mediterranean region. Specific agro-ecological strategies to prevent soil degradation in the benchmark sites were designed within two major topics: (i) strategies related to land use planning at a regional level: segregation of agricultural lands, restoration of marginal areas, diversification of crop rotation, and identification of vulnerability areas; and (ii) those related to land management planning at a farm level: organic matter restoration, formulation of tillage practices and workability timing, optimum machinery use, and input rationalization. The predicted results of applying the 12 agro-ecological land evaluation model constituents of MicroLEIS DSS are presented and discussed for each application site. The main conclusion of this paper is that using soil type information in decision-making is at the heart for sustainable use and management of agricultural land. This agro-ecological approach can be especially useful when formulating soil-specific agricultural practices to reverse environmental degradation, based on the spatial variability of soils and related resources.     

Compliance of land cover changes with municipal land use planning: Evidence from the Lisbon metropolitan region (1990–2007)

In the past few decades, urbanisation has become a major phenomenon in European cities, thus representing one of the key human land cover changes with socio-economic and environmental impacts. In the Lisbon metropolitan region it is estimated that 17% of natural and farmland have been transformed into artificial areas. Since the end of 1990s, specific EU guidelines have been issued to contain urban sprawl and preserve agricultural land. Spatial planning in Portugal obviously is integrating these assumptions into the statutory land-use master plans. But what is the performance of this land use planning system regarding land cover evolution itself? Based on the Lisbon metropolitan region (LMR), one of the major areas of urban growth in Portugal, we examine spatio-temporal land cover patterns between 1990 and 2007 by integrating cross-matrix analysis, spatial metrics, and gradient analysis. Additionally, we overlay these land cover dynamics with municipal master plans that regulate land development in order to assess the compliance levels of this land-use regulatory system. Results indicate that: artificial areas are growing by coalescence and/or by scattered development along an urban–rural gradient; agricultural land is reducing and fragmentation is increasing to enlarge peri-urban spaces; there are high levels of conversion of agricultural land into urban land in protected areas, thus showing a lack of compliance to the land use regulatory system visible in the existing gaps between the original land-use assignments of the master plan and the actual developments.     

Long run agricultural land expansion,booms and busts

Agricultural land expansion is a prominent feature in today’s developing countries. It is associated with a structural pattern of land use in many remote land-abundant regions where large-scale commercial primary product activities coexist with increased concentration of smallholders in more marginal areas. The result may be boom-bust cycles of development. If these phenomena are widespread across developing countries, then long-run expansion of agricultural land could be associated with lower levels of real income per capita, which may also fluctuate with prolonged expansion. A panel analysis conducted over 1961–2015 for 98 developing economies fails to reject this hypothesis. Policies should aim to decouple socio-economic gains through agricultural development from continued land expansion, and greater investments are needed to support smallholder agriculture, land distribution and livelihoods in these areas.     

Causal chains,policy trade offs and sustainability: Analysing land (mis)use in seven countries in the South

The need to enhance sustainable development of land use is more urgent than ever; specifically in developing countries where poverty and land degradation are often interlinked. To promote a common understanding of land use problems by experts, stakeholders and decision makers, it is essential to understand the system characteristics, including the complex feedbacks between drivers and impacts. To enhance sustainable development, appropriate policies need to be identified. In this paper, we analysed and compared seven case studies in Kenya, Mali, Tunisia, China, India, Indonesia and Brazil, representing different biophysical and socio-economic conditions and challenges. We analysed Driver Pressure State Impact Response (DPSIR) story lines of the land use problems, policy priorities and value trade-offs as identified by stakeholders and experts in National Policy Forums. Important drivers of land use change impacting main land use problems among the case studies were economic growth, technological development, immigration and agricultural intensification, in addition to existing policies. Of the latter the most important were related to domestic support through various forms of subsidies or access to credit, land tenure polices and liberalization policies. In the policy prioritization, the value trade-offs made by the National Policy Forums emphasize the environment rather than increased economic production. It is recognized that the environment needs to be improved to maintain and improve economic production in the long term, both in agriculture and in other sectors.     

Smallholder participation in the land rental market in a mountainous region of Southern China: Impact of population aging,land tenure security and ethnicity

Rural land rental markets in China play an increasingly important role in the transformation of the agricultural sector. This study focuses on the rural land rental market in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Southern China, a mountainous region, where rapid changes in land use have taken place with the transition from traditional agriculture and a tropical rainforest to rubber monoculture. Notably, we assess the impacts of population aging, land tenure security, and ethnicity on the participation of smallholders in the land rental market. The analysis suggests that a higher proportion of older people in a household increases the likelihood of renting out land and reduces the probability of renting in land, implying that population aging fosters land rental market development by transferring land from older to younger farmers. We also confirm that the availability of a land tenure certificate has a significant and positive impact on the renting out of land. Furthermore, ethnic minority groups are less likely to rent out land, indicating that land rental markets are ethnic sensitive. Additionally, specialization in rubber farming, household wealth and the altitude of household location also influence participation in the land rental market.     

Land policy and land engineering

Based on the relationship between land policy and land engineering, we defined the concept of ‘land engineering’ and its contents, and demonstrated the significance of the establishment of land engineering. On the one hand, the land policy guided the development of the land engineering. On the other hand, the land engineering is an important means to improve and execute the land policy. The contents of land engineering are summarized as follows: (1) conversion of non-agricultural land into agricultural land; (2) conversion of low standard use land into a high standard use land; (3) conversion of current land into human construction use; (4) conversion of polluted and damaged land into usable land. Our study provides scientific support for the efficient utilization of land resources.