Crisis or continuity?: Framing land disputes and local conflict resolution in Burundi

This article is about the importance of framing in conflict situations, and how this informs peacebuilding interventions. It discusses the consequences of understanding land disputes in Burundi as a short-term problem, resulting from the massive return of refugees and displaced to their former homes. This framing of land disputes urged international and local organizations to initiate programmes for strengthening the capacities of local conflict resolving institutions. The case material shows that, though the return of refugees was a factor in disputes about land, there was a lot of continuity between conflict-related and regular land disputes. Many disputes required first and foremost solutions at the national, political level, rather than at the local level. Further, the predisposition towards local institutions failed to take account of the weaknesses of those institutions. The article further points out some of the practices that played a role in this framing of conflict and the intervention strategies based on it.     

Towards the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive?: Lessons learned from water quality simulations in an agricultural watershed

The main objective of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the achievement of a good ecological and chemical status of the water environment (water bodies). This status corresponds to the limit value of Germany's Working Group of the Federal States on Water Problems Issues (LAWA) for water quality class II (3 mg/l total nitrogen). The rivers in the intensively cropped Upper Ems River basin (northwestern Germany) show total nitrogen concentrations in excess of 5–10 mg/l. Hence, the objective of our study was to find a land use and land management scenario that would reduce the total nitrogen concentration to meet the WFD requirements for good ecological and chemical status. We developed consecutive land use and management scenarios on the basis of policy instruments such as the support of agro-environmental measures by Common Agricultural Policy and regional landscape development programs. The model simulations were done by using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Results of SWAT scenario calculations showed that drastic measures, which are unrealistic from a socio-economic point of view, would be needed to achieve the water quality target in the basin (reduction of arable land from 77.2% to 46% [13% organic farming], increase of pasture from 4% to 15%, afforestation from 10% to 21%, increase of protected wetlands from 0% to 9%, etc.). The example shows additionally that the achievement of the WFD targets is only possible with a consideration of regional landscape and land use distinctions. A related problem yet to be addressed is the general lack of measured water quality data with which to calibrate and validate water quality models such as SWAT. This adds considerable uncertainty to already complicated and uncertainty situations. Thus, improved strategies for water quality monitoring, and data accessibility must be established.     

Does community ownership affect public attitudes to wind energy? A case study from south-west Scotland

This paper presents the results of a study of public attitudes to onshore windfarm development in south-west Scotland. Specifically, it explores the influences of different development models on attitudes to windfarms by comparing public attitudes towards a community-owned windfarm on the Isle of Gigha with attitudes towards several developer-owned windfarms on the adjacent Kintyre peninsula. The study, conducted in 2006, used a questionnaire-based survey (n = 106) to test the hypothesis that community ownership would lead to greater public acceptance of windfarms. It also examined the attitudes of both residents and tourists towards the impacts of onshore windfarms on landscapes and seascapes, including cumulative impacts. The data show that the Gigha respondents were consistently more positive about wind power than were the Kintyre residents. However, the differences were differences of degree rather than diametrically opposing viewpoints. The most significant concerns about windfarms were intermittent production and visual impact, but majorities in both areas nevertheless regarded their visual impact as positive. The data also indicate that local attitudes could become even more positive if future windfarms were owned by local communities. The fact that the residents of Gigha have affectionately dubbed their turbines ‘the Three Dancing Ladies’ is indicative of the positive psychological effects of community ownership. These results support the contention that a change of development model towards community ownership could have a positive effect on public attitudes towards windfarm developments in Scotland.     

How adjustments in land use patterns contribute to drought risk adaptation in a changing climate—A case study in China

In the context of climate change, adaptation to climatic extremes, such as drought, has attracted worldwide attention, yet many practical adaptation strategies need to be examined at the local level. Based on a case study of the village of Beidian, located in a drought-prone region in northern China, this study demonstrates that when faced with multiple pressures of regional climate change, drought risk and rural poverty, reasonable adjustments in land use patterns can serve as an effective adaptation strategy in the agricultural sector. We used household questionnaires, in-depth interviews with village managers, and land use surveys at the farming plot level to quantify the relationship between land use change and drought mitigation effects. Our findings indicate that in the past decade, the farming practices in Beidian have transformed from a complete reliance on the winter wheat–summer corn rotation to a new diversified mode of apple as the main crop and corn and coarse cereals as the subsidiary crops. The current farming mode is proven to possess a stronger adaptive capacity to drought due to its higher water-saving efficiency and economic benefit, which facilitates rural poverty reduction and socio-economic development. This study presents a feasible approach to address adaptation strategies at the local level, which provides policymakers with information on how to best support farm-level adaptation and to reduce farmers’ vulnerability to climatic extremes within the broader context of climate change.     

Owned or rented—does it matter? Agricultural land use change within farm properties,case studies from Norway

In Norway and many other countries agriculture has moved toward less, but bigger farms. Total agricultural area has not been much affected mainly due to land tenancy. In this study we used aerial photographs to map land use and land cover in agricultural areas at present and in the mid-sixties. Three study sites were chosen, representing areas of differences with respect to drivers of change and possible differences in their landscape outcome. Maps from the two periods were used to produce transition matrices for the three areas as well as within each farm property. Our main finding on acreage change is that fully cultivated land increases and pastures decreases. A novel feature in our study is that we also include land use changes within single properties. In all three places a large share of the fully cultivated land in the sixties remains fully cultivated land irrespectively of whether the land is in use by its owner or is rented. When we looked at increases of fully cultivated land, the results are mixed. In the less favorable region, ownership to land versus rented land helps explain the variation in gain of fully cultivated land as well as maintained total agricultural area. However, in the case study from the grain region, whether a farm property today is in use as own land or rented, do not help explain the variation in changes within the data sample of farm properties larger than one hectare.     

An evaluation of contemporary China’s land use policy – The Link Policy: A case study from Ezhou,Hubei Province

Economic reform in China has resulted in rapid urbanisation over the past three decades, changing the urban and rural landscape dramatically. A large amount of farmland was developed, leading to conflict between construction demand and farmland protection. In response, the “Link Policy” was proposed in 2005 that seeks to concurrently preserve farmland while providing for urban expansion through land exchange. The effectiveness of the Link Policy has not been systematically investigated. The purpose of this study is to analyse and evaluate outcomes of the Link Policy objectives from both a participant and investigator’s interpretive perspective. Ezhou, the first experimental city to implement the Link Policy in Hubei Province in central China, was selected as a case study area. Eight different communities in Ezhou were visited and 160 semi-structured interviews were conducted with resettled rural residents in March 2016. A combination of interviews and investigator field observations were used to evaluate the Link Policy objectives. The results show that participants recognize and support improving rural living conditions and coordinating urban-rural development, but the Link Policy failed to achieve the objectives of preserving farmland, protecting farmers’ land use rights and interests, and facilitating agricultural production. Participants perceived concentrated resettlement communities to be more efficient in land use compared to more expansive rural settlements, but vacant apartments for commercial use in resettlement areas account for a large proportion of land suggesting inefficiency in the land exchanges. We suggest policy changes to achieve more successful implementation of the Link Policy.     

休闲豆制食品危害控制研究

以传统休闲豆制食品的加工过程为研究对象,对生产过程各主要加工环节进行取样分析,探讨主要加工环节的重金属和微生物指标的变化规律,旨在确定影响产品安全的关键控制点。结果表明休闲豆制食品危害控制的关键控制点为:原料选择(大豆、水源、添加剂)、废物处理(废水、豆腐渣)、浸泡、分割与包装、灭菌。危害控制的方法有:规范原材料的选购途径、建立废物处理系统、规范加工工艺、建立食品数据库等。     

数字赋能基层治理优化思考全文替换

随着数字时代的来临,数字赋能为基层治理带来质的变化。本文选取南京市顶山街道“一网统管”模式进行个案研究,通过梳理典型模式的主体相互关系和互动机制,并结合理论分析框架“治理主体-权责关系-互动机制-业务流程”进行分析,在此基础上提出数字赋能基层治理模式优化路径,以促进数字赋能基层治理模式优化。     

乡村振兴战略视角下生态扶贫实践模式研究撤回

生态扶贫是推进脱贫攻坚和生态文明建设的一项重要模式。经过多年发展,我国生态扶贫实现了生态产品的有效供给、生态价值与贫困户间的利益联结,但也面临着交易成本高、生态资产盘活难度大等困境,如何破解生态扶贫后续发展问题,形成与乡村振兴战略的有效衔接亟待研究。通过实地调研贫困县的生态扶贫实践,系统梳理了我国生态扶贫的现实背景和发展历程,分析了生态扶贫的典型模式,提出了未来支撑乡村振兴的对策建议。     

农村合作经济新模式塘约经验探讨全文替换

为深析后扶贫时代巩固脱贫成果与建设现代化乡村、发展新时期乡村振兴新模式,以安顺平坝区塘约经验为抓手,分析如何发挥农村合作经济模式优越性,实现农民增收、农业兴盛。     

湖州市“金融惠农”班车运行实践及启示全文替换

湖州市作为浙江省首批共同富裕“缩小城乡差距领域”建设试点城市,推出“金融惠农”共富班车来推动乡村经济高质量发展。文本以“金融惠农”共富班车项目作为研究主体,首先介绍其产生背景与目标,其次介绍“金融惠农”共富班车的三大举措,然后分析湖州市“金融惠农”共富班车开展以来产生的效果,提出“金融惠农”共富班车后续发展中应加强金融机构合作,完善农村信用体系建设,拓展线上金融服务系统,创新农业担保、农业保险、融资租赁等金融风险管理机制,更好地发挥金融惠农政策对乡村振兴的推动作用。     

基于乡村振兴战略下的基层农业经营与治理问题探索撤回

我国实施乡村振兴战略最终是要实现农村农业现代化。经济原因是实施乡村振兴战略过程中的主要制约因素,农业在当前农村经济发展中仍然处于弱势,农业经营体系滞后是导致农业弱势的主要原因之一。文章在研究过程中主要以内蒙古某市基层农业经营和治理问题作为研究对象,探讨了当前基层农业生产和乡村治理存在的问题及其原因,并结合当地实际情况提出农业经营和乡村治理改善的建议。     

Farmers’ land use decision-making in the context of changing land and conservation policies: A case study of Doi Mae Salong in Chiang Rai Province,Northern Thailand

In Thailand, land use planning and policy decision-making were—and to some extent still are—organized in a hierarchical and disjointed fashion. This is also true for the utilization of public lands, including forest reserves in the northern uplands that are often settled by ethnic minorities. There are, however, instances of change in land policies and regulations and in the way decisions and plans are made. Doi Mae Salong (DMS) in Northern Thailand, where there is a trend towards land use for conservation purposes, is a case in point. This paper aims to explore decision-making by farmers in DMS in the context of changing land regulations and policies from the 1950s to the present. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, together with a historical perspective and with narratives on land management through time, were applied by using in-depth interviews of key informants and group farmers’ discussions as tools. The time period under investigation was divided into three periods of change: The first period, before the year 1960, was an era of security concern. In contrast, the second period, from 1961 to 1996, was an era of emerging conservation priorities. Finally, the third period, from 1997 to the present, is an era of lessons learned from the conservation era. Land use decision outcomes reveal that the decision-making processes of farmers are influenced both by the hierarchical decisions of higher authorities and by horizontal linkages among multiple stakeholders. However, while farmers participate readily in forest conservation activities, they do not play an active role in the process of changing policies.     

Does organic farming (OF) work in favour of protecting the natural environment? A case study from Poland

Organic farming (OF) is a management system that is closely linked with the quality of the natural environment since it should, besides producing organic food, constitutes a protective factor for all components of that natural environment. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to answer the following question: Does organic farming (OF) protect the natural environment? In order to achieve this goal it was essential to determine what kinds of natural and non-environmental factors have the largest influence on the development of OF in Poland, and to assess the significance of these factors in the spatial diversification of the regional density of organic farms. The analysis was carried out on the basis of data from 2012 comprising 2074 communes, including both rural communes (1563) and urban-rural ones (511). The research results indicated the weaknesses of the organic farming policy (OFP) with respect to the functioning of OF in Poland in the years 2007–2013. The results also show that the development of OF in Poland mainly depends on the system of financial support, i.e. one that either encourages farmers to change the manner of production to a more environmentally friendly one, or one that has an impact on their decision to resign from production using ecological methods. Moreover, as our research has proved, OF is not always developed in places where it should be a priority because of the suitable conditions of the natural environment.     

Twenty-three years of forest cover change in protected areas under different governance strategies: A case study from Ethiopia’s southern highlands

Tropical deforestation has heightened the need for effective governance of protected areas aimed at conserving natural resources, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. The southern highlands of Ethiopia hold some of the largest expanses of contiguous tropical forest in Ethiopia. This area also is undergoing rapid land conversion. Multiple protected areas with different management strategies and objectives have been established, in part, to conserve forests and the ecosystem services they provide. We examined four types of protected areas; a national park, a state-run forest enterprise, two occupied privately leased hunting concessions, and two unoccupied hunting concessions, to evaluate their effectiveness at protecting forest cover. We used 1509 field plots with medium-resolution Landsat imagery from 1987 to 2015 to develop models of forest cover at approximately five-year time intervals. We found protected areas that were actively managed for timber production or hunting were more effective at conserving forest cover than the national park and the unoccupied hunting concessions. Over the study period, net forest cover change was −7.8% for the national park, 12.9% for the state-run forest enterprise, −0.2% and 13.3% for the occupied hunting concessions and −14.0% and −13.0% for the unoccupied hunting concessions. We also discuss how the change in forest cover relates to historic political events. In places like Ethiopia where the federal resources needed to conserve forests are limited, promoting a network that includes both federally and non-federally managed protected areas can result in more area and forests under protection.     

Transdisciplinary landscape planning: Does the public have aspirations? Experiences from a case study in Ghent (Flanders,Belgium)

Since the end of the last century, the focus in landscape policy is shifting from traditional top-down perspectives into a bottom-up and integrated approach involving participation of local stakeholders. Keywords in the European Landscape Convention (ELC) include participation and awareness-raising: the public should be involved and their aspirations towards landscape should be assessed. This evolution in policy went with a new paradigm in landscape research: transdisciplinarity. Despite this evolution, literature indicates the necessity of a more general use of methods for public participation in landscape planning to meet the objectives of the Convention. The present paper explores ways to involve ‘the local people’ and to grasp their aspirations with regard to the landscape features of their surroundings. Point of departure is a questionnaire combining questions on landscape preference, environmental worldview and behaviour in the landscape. The questionnaire was distributed in a spatially stratified sample amongst inhabitants of the city of Ghent. The survey was set up without any connection to a concrete operational project that could convince respondents to participate. The response rate was relatively large despite a rather demanding questionnaire. More isolated target groups such as people with lower income, lower education level, and retired people were included, but foreigners, despite being a substantial part of the urban population, did not respond. The respondents appeared to be rather homogeneous as regards environmental worldview and aspirations in the landscape. It appeared that environment and landscape were not clearly distinguished between by the respondents. These results yield some suggestions for transdisciplinary landscape policy. A careful design of the sampling can enhance number and diversity of the respondents. Yet, it is equally important to develop a common language to communicate about landscape so that the question items can be clearly phrased and understood. Aspirations towards landscape should be defined more unambiguously so that they can be assessed alike. Awareness-raising for landscape may help to increase the number of local people that feel addressed when talking about landscape. When public support for landscape policy and management is taken seriously, more factors than only landscape should be taken into consideration.     

特别报道:密切伙伴关系 保障粮食安全简

2月21日至23日,亚太经合组织粮食安全政策伙伴关系机制（PPFS）政府与企业粮食安全与贸易对话会议、PPFS第一次管理委员会会议在浙江省宁波市召开。来自APEC经济体PPFS成员、相关企业、APEC秘书处、亚太经合组织工商咨询理事会秘书处、有关粮农组织代表齐聚一堂,对话交流,献计献策,共同谋划亚太地区粮食安全。     

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.