Wealth Accumulation and Activity Choice Evolution Among Amazonian Forest Peasant Households

This paper examines investment and livelihood decisions among forest peasant households in the Amazonian floodplain. A dynamic household model of multiple asset accumulation and activity choice under risk and credit constraints is developed by incorporating natural resource use and human capital evolution. Asset portfolios and sectoral incomes are estimated and then simulated to investigate the endowment and lifecycle dependency as well as the convergence/divergence of asset accumulation and corresponding activity choices. Physical asset endowment (especially land) and different human capital evolutions across activities help to explain forest peasants' livelihood choices, distinctive asset portfolios, and divergent income outcomes over the lifecycle.

Smoothing Income against Crop Flood Losses in Amazonia: Rain Forest or Rivers as a Safety Net

This article examines the role of ex post labor supply in smoothing income in response to crop losses caused by large floods among riverine households in the Peruvian Amazon, where rich environmental endowments permit a variety of resource extractive activities and coping responses. The paper finds that households respond to crop losses primarily by intensifying fishing effort not by relying on gathering of non-timber forest products, hunting, or asset liquidation. This ex post labor adjustment helps to smooth total income against small crop losses but less well against large crop losses. Both relatively non-poor households with better fishing capital and poor young households with a physical labor advantage employ this natural insurance in rivers.

Agriculture traditionnelle et fleurs coupées : un mariage réussi en Amazonie

À l’aide d’une posture à l’interface entre l’ethnobiologie et la géographie, nous démontrons comment les fleurs ornementales coupées peuvent faire le lien entre villes et campagnes, entre les villages producteurs et entre les différents agro‑écosystèmes existant le long du fleuve Amazone. Cette activité lucrative de vente de fleurs se traduit par un ajout d’activités et d’espèces, et non pas par une substitution ou une modification de la structure spatiale du système agricole traditionnel. La valorisation sociale des espèces est façonnée par l’espace où elles sont cultivées, par la nature fragile de leur matériel de propagation, et par leur vulnérabilité biologique. Rares et précieuses, les fleurs acquièrent aussi une valeur économique non négligeable. Cultiver de belles roses procure un statut social à l’agriculteur qui aime exposer ses savoir-faire hérités et transformés.By drawing on an approach at the intersection of ethnobiology and geography, we show how ornamental cut flowers effectively forge links between town and country, among producer villages, and between different agroecosystems found along the Amazon river, near Iquitos (Peru). This lucrative activity arose from the introduction of new farming practices and novel plant species, rather than by substitution or modification of the spatial structure of the traditional agricultural system. The social value of flower species is fashioned by the space where they are cultivated, by the fragile nature of their propagules, and by their biological vulnerability. Rare and precious, these flowers acquire a non-negligible economic value as well. The cultivation of beautiful roses begets a social stature to the farmer who wishes to demonstrate to others his or her inherited knowledge and know-how

REPIQUETES Y RIESGO EN EL CULTIVO DE ARROZ EN LA LLANURA INUNDABLE DEL RÍO AMAZONAS CERCA DE IQUITOS, PERÚ

The floodplain of the Amazon river offers considerable potential for agriculture but is a risk-filled environment for farmers working the fertile but flood-prone land. Flood reversals that occur as river levels fall and rise between May and November —known as repiquetes— pose a serious threat to crop cultivated on the floodplains, particularly commercial rice. In this paper we analyze the 45-year record of daily water levels at Iquitos to determine the frequency and magnitude of repiquetes and their impact on the crop growing season. Interviews and land surveys conducted in four riverside communities near the Isla Muyuy archipelago indicate the impact of repiquetes and other hazards on rice production, and assessed farmers’ willingness to pay for flood risk adaptation tools. Our findings point to index-based insurance as promising strategy to buffer risk and promote agricultural development of the Amazon floodplain.Las llanuras inundables del río Amazonas poseen un gran potencial para la agricultura, pero no están exentas de riesgos para los agricultores que cultivan en esas tierras fértiles muy propensas a inundaciones. Estas inundaciones repentinas, que ocurren a medida que el nivel del río disminuye entre mayo y noviembre, son conocidas como «repiquetes» y representan una amenaza seria para los cultivos en llanuras inundables, especialmente para el arroz comercial. En este artículo se analiza el registro diario de los niveles de agua del río Amazonas en Iquitos de los últimos 45 años (entre 1968 y 2012), para determinar la frecuencia y magnitud de los repiquetes y su impacto en la temporada de crecimiento del cultivo. Las entrevistas y los estudios de campo realizados en cuatro comunidades ribereñas, cerca del archipiélago Muyuy, revelan el impacto de los repiquetes y otros riesgos en la producción de arroz, así como la disposición de los agricultores al pago por los instrumentos apropiados para disminuir el riesgo de las inundaciones. Nuestros hallazgos apuntan a un seguro basado en índices climáticos, como una nueva estrategia para reducir el riesgo y promover el desarrollo agrícola en las llanuras inundables del Amazonas

Tropical Forests and Shifting Cultivation: Secondary Forest Fallow Dynamics Among Traditional Farmers of the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract Tropical secondary forests created by swidden-fallow agriculture cover extensive areas in the humid tropics and yield significant ecological and economic benefits, yet forest fallowing behaviour among swidden cultivators remains poorly understood. This paper reports on a study of forest fallow management among Amazonian peasant farmers in a traditional, riverside community near Iquitos, Peru. Data were gathered through in-depth household interviews (n = 36) on farming practices, demographic characteristics, kinship relations and family history, income-expenditures and household wealth. Field visits and interviews allowed the reconstruction of forest fallow histories (n= 593 fields) for the period of 1950-1994. These histories were combined with information on household land holding and demographic composition, over time, and incorporated into a panel data set for analysis of fallow dynamics at the plot and household level. Our analyses indicate marked variations among households in the area, number and age of fallow holdings through time. Tobit regressions suggest that households with better access to land and to both in-house (male) and communal labour hold more land in secondary forest fallow with longer fallow periods. Over time, as primary forest lands around the community became increasingly scarce, households increased their holdings of forest fallow but reduced the fallow length. Duration analyses at the plot level indicate that fallow length is influenced primarily by the type of prior crop, field size, and household access to labour as well as primary forest. Land poorer households have significantly shorter forest fallows than better-off households. Our findings point to the importance of intra-community variations in non-market mediated access to land and labour and their implications for secondary forest fallow management among traditional peoples in tropical rain forest regions

Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions

The importance of seed provisioning in food security and nutrition, agricultural development and rural livelihoods, and agrobiodiversity and germplasm conservation is well accepted by policy makers, practitioners and researchers. The role of farmer seed networks is less well understood and yet is central to debates on current issues ranging from seed sovereignty and rights for farmers to GMOs and the conservation of crop germplasm. In this paper we identify four common misconceptions regarding the nature and importance of farmer seed networks today. (1) Farmer seed networks are inefficient for seed dissemination. (2) Farmer seed networks are closed, conservative systems. (3) Farmer seed networks provide ready, egalitarian access to seed. (4) Farmer seed networks are destined to weaken and disappear. We challenge these misconceptions by drawing upon recent research findings and the authors’ collective field experience in studying farmer seed systems in Africa, Europe, Latin America and Oceania. Priorities for future research are suggested that would advance our understanding of seed networks and better inform agricultural and food policy

Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions

a b s t r a c t The importance of seed provisioning in food security and nutrition, agricultural development and rural livelihoods, and agrobiodiversity and germplasm conservation is well accepted by policy makers, practitioners and researchers. The role of farmer seed networks is less well understood and yet is central to debates on current issues ranging from seed sovereignty and rights for farmers to GMOs and the conservation of crop germplasm. In this paper we identify four common misconceptions regarding the nature and importance of farmer seed networks today. (1) Farmer seed networks are inefficient for seed dissemination. (2) Farmer seed networks are closed, conservative systems. (3) Farmer seed networks provide ready, egalitarian access to seed. (4) Farmer seed networks are destined to weaken and disappear. We challenge these misconceptions by drawing upon recent research findings and the authors' collective field experience in studying farmer seed systems in Africa, Europe, Latin America and Oceania. Priorities for future research are suggested that would advance our understanding of seed networks and better inform agricultural and food policy

Aboveground biomass density models for NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar mission

NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is collecting spaceborne full waveform lidar data with a primary science goal of producing accurate estimates of forest aboveground biomass density (AGBD). This paper presents the development of the models used to create GEDI's footprint-level (similar to 25 m) AGBD (GEDI04_A) product, including a description of the datasets used and the procedure for final model selection. The data used to fit our models are from a compilation of globally distributed spatially and temporally coincident field and airborne lidar datasets, whereby we simulated GEDI-like waveforms from airborne lidar to build a calibration database. We used this database to expand the geographic extent of past waveform lidar studies, and divided the globe into four broad strata by Plant Functional Type (PFT) and six geographic regions. GEDI's waveform-to-biomass models take the form of parametric Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models with simulated Relative Height (RH) metrics as predictor variables. From an exhaustive set of candidate models, we selected the best input predictor variables, and data transformations for each geographic stratum in the GEDI domain to produce a set of comprehensive predictive footprint-level models. We found that model selection frequently favored combinations of RH metrics at the 98th, 90th, 50th, and 10th height above ground-level percentiles (RH98, RH90, RH50, and RH10, respectively), but that inclusion of lower RH metrics (e.g. RH10) did not markedly improve model performance. Second, forced inclusion of RH98 in all models was important and did not degrade model performance, and the best performing models were parsimonious, typically having only 1-3 predictors. Third, stratification by geographic domain (PFT, geographic region) improved model performance in comparison to global models without stratification. Fourth, for the vast majority of strata, the best performing models were fit using square root transformation of field AGBD and/or height metrics. There was considerable variability in model performance across geographic strata, and areas with sparse training data and/or high AGBD values had the poorest performance. These models are used to produce global predictions of AGBD, but will be improved in the future as more and better training data become available

The number of tree species on Earth

One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global groundsourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are 73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness