In this paper the High Nature Value (HNV) livestock farming systems are defined. These systems are found mainly in marginal areas where physical factors, and in some cases social factors, have prevented intensification of land-use. NV-LINK is a Horizon2020 project that seeks to improve the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of HNV farming in 10 Learning Areas, and more widely across the EU, by promoting innovation.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have become a popular tool for governing rural development in a European context. PPPs are often presented as significant solutions for increasing both the effectiveness (problem-solving capacity) and the legitimacy of sustainable rural governance in terms of participation and accountability. In Sweden, where PPPs have played a marginal role, due to the EU cohesion policy they are now gaining ground as a model for the governance and management of natural resources in rural areas.
There is an ongoing debate on what constitutes sustainable intensification of agriculture (SIA). In this paper, we propose that a paradigm for sustainable intensification can be defined and translated into an operational framework for agricultural development. We argue that this paradigm must now be defined—at all scales—in the context of rapidly rising global environmental changes in the Anthropocene, while focusing on eradicating poverty and hunger and contributing to human wellbeing.
This paper studies the relationship between the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and market orientation of farm production in India. This is the first time that the WEAI has been used in an Indian agricultural context and the first time that it is being associated with market orientation. Was used data on 1920 adults from 960 households in the Chandrapur District of Maharashtra and classified the households into three groups—(1) landless, (2) food-cropping, and (3) cash-cropping—that reflect increasing degrees of market orientation
The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a participatory method to delineate distinct agricultural landscapes and map the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in data-limited contexts, (2) apply the method systematically to understand the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in three Central American countries (Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras), and (3) use the information generated to understand the variation in adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers across farming systems and regions
The objective of this paper is to review both supply- and demand-side measures for climate-smart agriculture and discuss their interlinkages, trade-offs, and context- and site-specific validity. The literature reviewed focuses on studies during the last decade (2008–2017) addressing food- and feed-related measures. Based on the literature review, potentials for different measures are identified and mapped across the globe using representative datasets.
People, places, and production contributing the least to climate change will suffer the most. This calls for adaptation as a key climate change response. But adaptation is surrounded by problems. Finance is uncertain and fragmented, mainstreaming into development is complicated, and technical solutions often overshadow existing social relations and institutions.
According to the authors of this paper, actual methods of scaling are rather empirical and based on the premise of ‘find out what works in one place and do more of the same, in another place’. These methods thus would not sufficiently take into account complex realities beyond the concepts of innovation transfer, dissemination, diffusion and adoption. As a consequence, scaling initiatives often do not produce the desired effect.
This paper characterises some of the main issues confronting water-catchment managing in a climate-changing world and addresses wide-spread concerns about the lack of connectivity between science, policy making and implementation. The paper’s arguments are ‘framed’ within a paradigm of systemic and adaptive governing, regulating, planning and managing understood as a nested systemic hierarchy. It is argued that climate change adaptation is best understood as a coevolutionary dynamic, principally, but not exclusively between human beings and the biophysical world.
Understanding diversity of smallholder farm households is of critical importance for the success of development interventions. Farming households often will devise livelihood strategies that provide the best guarantee for survival and based on their socioeconomic vulnerability. This study examines how achievements from the Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) approach through participation in innovation platform activities accrue to smallholder farming households of diverse socioeconomic status.