A GIS-based methodological framework to identify superficial water sources and their corresponding conduction paths for gravity-driven irrigation systems in developing countries

The limited availability of fresh water is a major constraint to agricultural productivity and livelihood security in many developing countries. Within the coming decades, smallholder farmers in drought-prone areas are expected to be increasingly confronted with local water scarcity problems, but their access to technological knowledge and financial resources to cope with these problems is often limited. In this article, we present a methodological framework that allows for identifying, in a short period of time, suitable and superficial water sources, and cost-effective water transportation routes for the provisioning of gravity-driven irrigation systems. As an implementation of the framework, we present the automated and extensible geospatial toolset named “AGRI’’, and elaborate a case study in Western Honduras, where the methodology and toolset were applied to provide assistance to field technicians in the process of identifying water intake sites and transportation routes. The case study results show that 28 % of the water intake sites previously identified by technicians (without the support of AGRI) were found to be not feasible for gravity-driven irrigation. On the other hand, for the feasible water intake sites, AGRI was able to provide viable and shorter water transportation routes to farms in 70 % of the cases. Furthermore, AGRI was able to provide alternative feasible water intake sites for all considered farms, with correspondingly viable water transportation routes for 74 % of them. These results demonstrate AGRI’s potential to reduce time, costs and risk of failure associated with the development of low-cost irrigation systems, which becomes increasingly needed to support the livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations

Land-use conflicts between biodiversity conservation and extractive industries in the Peruvian Andes

The exceptional endemic species richness found in the Tropical Andes is being subjected to high rates of environmental degradation and natural resources exploitation. While many forms of land-cover change and other impacts on species are difficult to control through environmental regulations, governments usually determine how and where extractive industries can take place. This study examines potential conflict between the location of extractive industry activities and biodiversity conservation in the Peruvian Andes. Using geographic information systems, we carry out overlay analyses to determine the spatial congruence between mineral mining, hydrocarbon and logging concessions, on the one hand, and the distribution of protected areas and endemic vertebrate species on the other. The results show that regional protected areas extensively overlap with resource concessions. Furthermore, 16% of endemic species hotspots concur with current concessions, while the geographical distribution of 21 endemic vertebrate species overlap by more than 90% with concession areas. To reconcile conservation and economic development objectives in the future, the geographical distribution of biodiversity, and in particular of endemic species, needs to be considered in natural resources planning and land-use/management activities

Assessment of potential climate change impacts on montane forests in the Peruvian Andes: Implications for conservation prioritization

This study examines climate change impacts in the Peruvian Andes, with a specific focus on tropical montane forest ecosystems, which are particularly susceptible to climate change. Using an ensemble of classification models coupled with different climate change scenarios, we estimate high and low potential impacts on montane forest, by projecting which areas will become climatically unsuitable to support montane forest ecosystems by 2070. These projections are subsequently used to examine potential impacts on protected areas containing montane forest

Changes in food access by mestizo communities associated with deforestation and agrobiodiversity loss in Ucayali, Peruvian Amazon

Few longitudinal studies link agricultural biodiversity, land use and food access in rural landscapes. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that, in a context of economic change, cash crop expansion is associated with deforestation, reduced agrobiodiversity and changes in food access. For this purpose, we analysed data collected from the same 53 upland and floodplain mestizo households in Ucayali, Peru, in 2000 and 2015. We found an emerging transition towards less diversified food access coupled with loss of forest cover and reduced agricultural biodiversity. In 2015, diets appeared to rely on fewer food groups, fewer food items, and on products increasingly purchased in the market compared to 2000. Wild fruits and plants were mentioned, but rarely consumed. Agricultural production systems became more specialised with a shift towards commercial crops. Peak deforestation years in the 15-year period appeared linked with incentives for agricultural expansion. Our results suggest an overall trend from diversified productive and “extractive” systems and more diverse food access, towards specialized productive systems, with less diverse food access and stronger market orientation (both in production and consumption). The assumption in the food and agricultural sciences that increased income and market-orientation is linked to improved food security, is challenged by our integrated analyses of food access, agrobiodiversity, land use and forest cover. Our results highlight the importance of longitudinal, multidimensional, systemic analyses, with major implications for land use, food and health policies. The potential risks of parallel homogenisation of diets and agricultural production systems require interdisciplinary research and policies that promote integrated landscape approaches for sustainable and inclusive food systems

Carbon footprints of forest degradation and deforestation by “Basic-Needs Populations”: A review

Forest conversion caused by subsistence or “basic needs populations” is difficult to track and measure. As the dynamics of these populations change over time, their carbon footprint impacts on natural resources also change. To reduce their potential negative impacts on forest resources, it is critical to understand what underlying causes influence their livelihoods practices. A systematic review was conducted to search for common basic needs livelihoods that result in forest loss and degradation, and thus in carbon footprint changes. Livelihood activities were grouped into seven themes (animal husbandry, crop production, fishing, illegal practices, non-timber forest products, and wood harvest). Under these themes, a non-comprehensive list of 25 activities was combined with “deforestation” and “forest degradation” as search terms in Scopus and Web of ScienceTM. A two-level snowball sampling procedure was applied to the resulting screened publications. The review produced 2200 outputs, with a final sample of 101 articles and 161 basic needs communities described. The results show that wood harvesting and crop production were the most common livelihood activities engaged in by basic needs populations. Population pressure and alternative income sources were frequently mentioned as underlying causes influencing deforestation and forest degradation and likely affecting carbon footprints through land cover change. Often considered sustainable, livelihood activities by basic needs populations can become unsustainable in response to changes in contextual and socioeconomic factors. These factors are often interrelated, leading to environmental downward spirals, which increase carbon footprints through greater demands for natural resources resulting in deforestation and forest degradation

Hunters and hunting across indigenous and colonist communities at the forest agriculture interface: an ethnozoological study from the Peruvian Amazon

Background: Wildlife has been traditionally used by forest communities as a source of protein, and the Peruvian Amazon is no exception. The articulation of colonist and indigenous communities to urban centers and markets results in changes in livelihood strategies and impacts on wildlife populations. To address the threat of overhunting and forest conversion, we provide a generalized characterization of colonist and indigenous communities and their hunting activities near Pucallpa, Ucayali, Peru. Methods: A semi-structured household survey was conducted to characterize hunters and describe their prey collections. The data were analyzed by conducting a Kruskal-Wallis test, a multiple regression analysis, and by estimating the harvest rate (H). Results: Less wealthy households were more actively engaged in hunting for food security and as a livelihood strategy. Additionally, older hunters were associated with higher hunting rates. Although the percentage of hunters was relatively low, estimated hunting rates suggest overharvesting of wildlife. Lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca) were the most frequently hunted prey, followed by red brocket deer (Mazama americana) and primates. While hunting intensity was not significantly different between indigenous and colonist communities, hunting rate disparities suggest there are different types of hunters (specialized vs. opportunistic) and that prey composition differs between communities. Conclusion: Close monitoring of wildlife populations and hunting activities is ideal for more accurately determining the impact of hunting on wildlife population and in turn on forest health. In lack of this type of information, this study provides insight of hunting as a shifting livelihood strategy in a rapidly changing environment at the forest/agriculture frontier

Broadening the perspective of zero-deforestation interventions in Peru by incorporating concepts from the global value chain literature

Global narratives around the links between deforestation and agricultural commodity production have led to the application of voluntary zero-deforestation agreements between companies, governments, and civil society. The continued tropical deforestation warrants a re-examination of this approach in order to customize its application for a particular location. Our paper contributes to this by exploring the spatial associations between deforestation and the production of cacao, coffee, and oil palm in the Amazon region in Peru. The geographical overlaps between deforestation, and the distribution of these commodity crops, indicate four types of spatial associations: (1) a high degree of deforestation and a high degree of commodity production (high-high); (2) a high degree of deforestation and a low degree of commodity production (high-low); (3) a low degree of deforestation and a high degree of commodity production (low-high); and (4) a low degree of deforestation and a low degree of commodity production (low-low). On the basis of these associations, we present four scenarios in which zero-deforestation supply chain interventions may operate in Peru and argue that broadening the perspective of such interventions by adopting a global value chain lens can improve the use of previously deforested lands, prevent unintended or future deforestation and, in turn, ensure that no forest area is left behind

Agroecological transitions: A systematic review of research approaches and prospects for participatory action methods

There have been many calls for an agroecological transition to respond to food shocks and crises stemming from conventional food systems. Participatory action research and transformative epistemologies, where communities are research actors rather than objects, have been proposed as a way to enhance this transition. However, despite numerous case studies, there is presently no overview of how participatory approaches contribute to agroecological transitions. The present article therefore aims to understand the effect of applying participatory action research (PAR) in agroecology. We undertook a systematic review of articles reporting methods and results from case studies in agroecological research. On the one hand, our systematic review of 347 articles shows that the agroecological research scope is broad, with all three types—as science, a set of practices and social movement—well-represented in the corpus. However, we can see a clear focus on agroecology “as a set of practices” as the primary type of use of the concept. On the other hand, we found a few case studies (23) with a participatory approach while most studies used extractive research methods. These studies show that understanding the drivers and obstacles for achieving an agroecological transition requires long-term research and trust between researchers and farmers. Such transformative epistemologies open doors to new questions on designing long-term PAR research in agroecology when confronted with a short-term project-based society

Analysis of effectiveness of three forest interventionist techniques and proposal of a new and integrated model of forest restoration

We assessed the efficacy of three different forest intervention techniques, in terms of phytosociological and edaphic responses, that were implemented in 2007. In a farm where trees are planted and managed for cellulose production as well as set aside for environmental conservation, four stands were analysed: three of them were considered degraded and were managed using different intervention techniques (transposition, perch, and abandonment), and a fourth stand comprising pristine vegetation was considered a control (reference). Floristic and phytosociology data were collected in three 10 × 10 m plots established in each stand. Also, a total of 48 soil samples were collected to analyse physical and chemical attributes of the topsoil for the different stands. In terms of biodiversity, all the treatments showed significantly lower values when compared to the reference area. However, the soils in all the treatment and reference stands are similar in terms of physical and chemical attributes. Taking into account the specificities of each restoration technique, we verified that the integrated use of a set of management practices, constituted by the (1) abandonment of the area and (2) following a selective killing of the eucalyptus, is the most suitable and promising model to provide fast and effective restoration in terms of environmental indicators