Managing China's pastoral lands: Current problems and future prospects

China has the second largest area of pastoral land in the world, and these lands and their peoples play a very beneficial role in the global environment. Because of China's huge population, rate of social reform, and economic development, the pastoral ecosystems are at a critical turning point. There is a conflict between national benefit and the land users (mainly herders) benefit. This paper introduces the scale of pastoral land, the history of its management institutions, past and current projects and programs, as well as the current framework of policy and law as relevant to land management. The challenges for pastoral management in terms of institutions, administration, technology and their shifting role in regional economies of scale are also analyzed. Opportunities for sustainable development in China's pastoral lands are presented. Finally, this paper highlights the available approaches for enhancing livelihoods and conserving pastoral land, including establishment of law and policy framework at the national level, redefining use rights for community management, promoting Integrated Ecosystem Management (IEM) as a basis for natural resource utilization, preserving and respecting cultural aspects of pastoral peoples, and shifting the focus from GDP generation to environmental protection.     

Testing the orthodoxies of land degradation policy in Swaziland

This paper explores Swaziland's National Action Programme (NAP) to combat desertification; the country's main strategy for implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It considers whether this policy tackles real problems supported by micro-level scientific evidence and local experiences, or whether it further reinforces popular orthodoxies about land degradation. Data from one case study chiefdom in Swaziland are used to test two key orthodoxies identified within the country's NAP: (1) the presentation of degradation as a neo-Malthusian problem resulting from population pressure and (2) the assumption that the poor are responsible for degradation of their environment, in particular, the over-use of forest areas and the degradation of soils. It is found that diverse rural livelihoods inherently deliver patches of degradation at the micro-level but it is not necessarily population pressure or poor people that cause the degradation. Households with varying assets simultaneously degrade and conserve different parts of the land resource through pursuing different livelihood activities. The data indicate that while the NAP focuses on mythical problems grounded in the orthodoxies, policy attention is directed away from the more serious land degradation issues affecting rural livelihoods. The findings of this study provide a more nuanced understanding of the gaps between land degradation policy, local conservation practice and environmental and livelihood outcomes, and suggest that policymakers need to evaluate more critically the outdated and simplistic degradation orthodoxies on which much current policy is based. Stronger links need to be made between scientific and policymaking communities, while more credence should be given to land users’ own knowledges, perspectives, concepts and categories surrounding issues of soil conservation and degradation. It is suggested that steps need to be taken towards the development of broadly applicable benchmarks and indicators that bring together local and scientific knowledges across levels. Without this, popularised orthodoxies will continue to provide a basis for inappropriate land policy.     

Land management,erosion problems and soil and water conservation in Fincha’a watershed,western Ethiopia

The knowledge of soil erosion processes, attitude towards rational use of resources and institutional support affect the capability of farmers to implement soil and water conservation (SWC) measures. This research was conducted to determine soil erosion problems and the factors that affect the adoption of SWC measures in Fincha’a watershed, western Ethiopia. A total of 50 farmers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire, and two group discussions were held with 20 farmers. Moreover, transects were walked to classify erosion features, and a quantitative erosion survey was made on 19 farm plots during the rainy season of 2004. The results showed that crop fields are affected by annual soil losses ranging from 24 to 160 Mg ha⁻¹. Farmers are well aware of these erosion problems, and related the soil loss to steep slopes and a decline in soil fertility. However, they did not invest much in SWC measures, but apply soil management practices to sustain crop yields. The wealth status of farmers, land tenure arrangements and lack of access the farmers have to information are the major factors affecting SWC adoption. High labour demand of SWC measures, lack of short-term benefits and free grazing have negatively affected SWC adoption. Soil erosion problems in Fincha’a watershed have both on-site and off-site effects that require integrated SWC planning at watershed scale.     

中国农户土地租佃行为实证研究

本文利用福建省和黑龙江省的农户调查样本数据，通过建立土地租佃行为的经济计量模型，从微观层面定量分析了影响农户土地租佃行为的各种因素。计量结果表明，农户土地租佃行为受到户主年龄、户主是否接受过专业技术培训、家庭劳动力人数、人均纯收入、非农收入比重、农户是否饲养役畜、交易成本等多方面因素的影响，并随着这些因素的变化而不断变化。     

Unravelling the dynamics of access to farmland in Tigray,Ethiopia: The ‘emerging land market’ revisited

This article uses ethnographic evidence from Tigray to revisit the debate on informal rural land markets in present-day Ethiopia. It explores informal farmland rental from a historico-anthropological, micro-analytical perspective in relation to the formal allocation of land use rights and to other informal land transfer practices. It shows how different rationales for land rental give rise to different socially embedded tenancy configurations. On the basis of this empirical evidence, the paper questions the appropriateness of the common idea that in Ethiopia ‘the land rental market is expanding’. It argues that research and policy thinking on land in Ethiopia could gain analytical power and relevance by adopting a less monolithic and abstract view on people's informal land transfer practices.     

广东农村无地人口现状与获地途径研究

在落实了土地承包期30年不变的背景下,通过对广东省内传统的村庄、农户采取入户访谈的方式,就有关无地人口生产状态方面的问题进行调查后发现,在广东省内传统的农村地区,国家土地政策和各村是否严格执行国家土地政策对无地人口的数量有重要的影响,不断增加的无地人口对土地调整有影响,对土地转入没有直接影响却在一定程度上限制了农地转出,农村无地人口通过家庭继承的方式获取土地更普遍。     

An institutional evaluation of sustainable forest management in Flanders

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the existing Flemish institutional framework of sustainable forest management (SFM). The evaluation was performed using criteria and indicators that were based on the four-dimensional structure (discourse, rules, power and actors) of the policy arrangement approach. The data collection and analysis were done using a single representative case. The conclusions of the evaluation are mixed. The introduction of sustainable forest management is hampered by different perspectives on SFM and a fragmented network of many different owners with a clear asymmetrical distribution of trust and power. It is, however, enabled by the way that the most powerful and trusted actors in the network – the forest group and the forest service – have the same perspective on SFM perspective as the government. We expect that SFM can be achieved in the near future, although it remains a vulnerable situation.     

Why have land use change models for the Amazon failed to capture the amount of deforestation over the last decade?

Land cover change in the Neotropics represents one of the major drivers of global environmental change. Several models have been proposed to explore future trajectories of land use and cover change, particularly in the Amazon. Despite the remarkable development of these tools, model results are still surrounded by uncertainties. None of the model projections available in the literature plausibly captured the overall trajectory of land use and cover change that has been observed in the Amazon over the last decade. In this context, this study aims to review and analyze the general structure of the land use models that have most recently been used to explore land use change in the Amazon, seeking to investigate methodological factors that could explain the divergence between the observed and projected rates, paying special attention to the land demand calculations. Based on this review, the primary limitations inherent to this type of model and the extent to which these limitations can affect the consistency of the projections will also be analyzed. Finally, we discuss potential drivers that could have influenced the recent dynamic of the land use system in the Amazon and produced the unforeseen land cover change trajectory observed in this period. In a complementary way, the primary challenges of the new generation of land use models for the Amazon are synthesized.     

基于农户视角的循环农业外部环境分析?——来自湖北省的实证研究

发展农业循环经济是实现现代农业发展战略的重要途径。该文以湖北省6个国家和省级生态农业试点地区为研究范围,通过受访农户对当前循环农业生产影响因素、设施条件状况、信息传播渠道等的感知和评价,对我国循环农业发展的外部环境状况进行了描述性分析。研究结论表明:当前循环农业发展的外部环境比较落后,其主要制约因素是循环农业产品价格偏低、种养技术欠缺、市场信息闭塞、乡村基础设施落后、金融信贷支持不足,以及循环农业技术、品种的实际应用效果和市场化效益缺乏等几个方面。对此,该文认为,当前应着重从大力培养创新农民,加大农业科技投入和农村基础设施建设,规范政府引导等几个方面去促进循环农业的发展。     

Preindustrial agriculture versus organic agriculture: The land cost of sustainability

The study of traditional agrarian systems can provide useful knowledge for improving the sustainability of present-day agriculture. Nonetheless, with the loss of traditional agro-ecosystems and the rationale that guides them, as has happened in Europe, an historical research approach can have a decisive role to play in recapturing this knowledge. In this article we study the evolution of a typical Mediterranean agro-ecosystem during the last 250 years, supporting the claim that high diversity and the internalization of energy flows and nutrient cycles found in traditional agriculture, are not only characteristics of the greatest sustainability of such systems, but are based in the need for additional land in production. This claim requires the dedication of land to diverse and complementary uses that leave a footprint on the landscape. Organic agriculture needs to consider this “land cost”, meanwhile trying to minimize it in order to improve its actual degree of sustainability.     

Demand for second-stage land certification in Ethiopia: Evidence from household panel data

Ethiopia has implemented one of the largest, fastest and least expensive land registration and certification reforms in Africa. While there is evidence that this ‘first-stage’ land registration has had positive effects in terms of increased investment, land productivity and land rental market activities, the government is now piloting another round of land registration and certification that involves technically advanced land survey methods and computer registration. This ‘second-stage’ land registration differs from the registration system employed in the first round that used field markings in conjunction with neighbors’ recollections to identify plot borders. We use panel data from 600 households in southern Ethiopia to investigate household perceptions of and demand for such a new registration and certification. Our study revealed relatively low demand and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for second-stage certificates. The WTP also decreases significantly from 2007 to 2012. Our findings indicate that farmers do not believe that the second-stage certificate enhances tenure security relative to the first-stage certificate except in instances in which first-stage certification was poorly implemented. The demand for second-stage certificates appears to come primarily from governmental authorities, as it can provide a better basis for land administration and produce accessible public documentation of land-related affairs.     

Estimating the costs and benefits of soil conservation in Europe

Economics is about problems of choice. In erosion control, both public authorities and private land users are faced with such problems. What is the impact of erosion, both on-site and off-site, and to what extent can this impact be quantified? If we conceptualize this impact in terms of sustainability, how can we compare one type of effect against another? The former question can be answered only by natural scientists, the latter by economists and other social scientists. Weighing different aspects of sustainability requires value judgments, and economists are sometimes accused of having a jaundiced view of reality, wrongly supposing that decisions are based on rationality and denying the importance of emotion.However, let us assume that there is some mileage to be gained out of attempting to estimate the cost of erosion in an economic sense—which consists of converting the various effects into a common denominator: euros. If we can predict the impact of erosion control measures on erosion rates, we can know the benefit of these measures. The cost also needs to be calculated, not in terms of money but in terms of resources expended (which could have been used for other purposes) and in terms of possible negative impacts of erosion control (for instance, increased use of herbicides in reduced-tillage systems).There are important other considerations which economists may study. Firstly, there is the comparison of present versus future costs and benefits: how much can we sacrifice today for higher sustainability tomorrow?Secondly, there is the issue of private versus public costs and benefits: how do the goals of private land users differ from (those of?) the public good, how can this help us to predict land users’ behaviour, and what incentives would be appropriate to make them behave in such a way as to maximize the public good? Thirdly, how do we deal with uncertainty and risk?These problems loomed large in a study to support an extended impact assessment for the EU Soil Thematic Strategy, in 2005. Whereas much research has been done on erosion and its impact, much of this is on a small scale. The extent of the problem on a national, let alone a continental or a global scale, is still poorly known. The paper discusses how these problems were faced, which is not the same as saying they were resolved.