Theme: Land and People

Land and People: Land productivity for sustainable livelihoods

Problem analysis

Despite gains in some places, there are still 1.2 billion very poor people in the world. More than 800 million people do not have access to adequate food to meet their needs, and food insecurity (the risk of inadequate food, among other potential difficulties) is widespread. There is little doubt that technologies can increase food production. However, many of the rural poor live on fragile lands. In much of the tropics, poor information and perverse incentives induce small-scale farmers to use farming methods that lead to resource degradation and a downwards spiral of reduced productivity, livelihood options, and land quality. Local action to improve the sustainability of small farmers' livelihood options can be very effective, but it is impractical for research organisations to devise and test the land management and other options needed in every local context.

Potential solutions

Agroforestry is a key component to preventing and reversing land degradation, and providing robust livelihood options for the rural poor. First, we need to understand the basis for sound land management and quantify the long-term consequences of management practices on small-scale agriculture. Then locally relevant management options can be devised and tested through the combining of robust principles with local ecological knowledge. Practical schemes for monitoring land productivity and degradation will to pick up danger signals, alerting policy makers at all levels to emerging land use problems. We will work with policymakers at various levels to identify policy constraints to sound land management and devise policies that are congruent with land management principles.

Focus: Integrated soil fertility management for improving rural livelihoods

This focus will identify the principles for using agroforestry systems in the integrated soil fertility management strategies of smallholder farming systems. First, we will develop an understanding of the nature of soil fertility problems at different scales, and how they arise due to biophysical processes and socio-economic circumstances. Trade-off analyses will be undertaken to study the effect of agroforestry components in this context, as well as long-term properties, and ability to generate welfare increases for farmers. Institutional, policy, and capacity-building efforts will focus on promoting awareness of soil fertility problems, causes, and opportunities for solutions.

Focus: Soil and water conservation for maintaining productive agricultural landscapes

The aim of this focus is to identify the principles for integrating agroforestry into the soil and water conservation strategies. It is already well understood that soil conservation is vital for maintenance of soil fertility. The nature of the erosion problem in a landscape context will be defined in order to compare agroforestry conservation methods to other methods. Additional challenges in promoting adoption are seen in this focus as compared to the soil fertility focus, because benefits from soil conservation investments accrue over longer periods of time.

Focus: Vegetation management for increased system productivity and reduced human vulnerability

This focus will identify the principles for integrating agroforestry into agricultural land management systems for benefits other than through the soil. Examples are microclimate regulation forestalling desertification or providing shade for coffee and other crops, improved pest and disease management through adding diversity, and preventing animal destruction of vegetation through live fencing. Similar to the other foci, the work here will focus on identifying major problems and prioritising the opportunities for agroforestry to significantly increase productivity or buffer against risks. Trade-off analysis will be a key activity of this focus, as integration of agroforestry into other vegetative systems will induce many system dynamics. There will be needs for institutional, policy, and capacity building in this theme as well, but the potential for inducing conflict among stakeholders are greater in this sub-theme than others, such as between herders and cultivators.

Focus: Land management interventions for reaching the poorest land users

This focus recognizes and highlights the particular difficulties that poor land users face in adopting improved land management practices. These constraints involve poor access to technology development processes and to agricultural information, poor bargaining power in markets and for public services, and extreme household resource constraints. Thus, this focus aims to develop participatory technology development processes so that pro-poor technologies can be more readily adapted, to improve systems for information flow, to improve adoption of known land management options, to strengthen existing farmer groups to be able to increase their rewards from land investments, and lastly to promote policy change that will enhance incentives for improved land management by the poor. These are outputs that help accelerated impact of the other three foci. Building partnerships for development of learning centres will be an important activity in this focus, as will action research in institutional innovation and policy research and support.