Social-ecological resilience in organic and non-organic cocoa farming systems in the Yungas of Bolivia

Cocoa based small scale agriculture is the basic livelihood of most farming families in the region of Alto Beni in the Bolivian Andes. Cocoa cultivation is affected by climate change impacts, soil degradation, pests and plant diseases, and insecure cocoa prices. From a sustainable development point of view, cocoa farms need thus to become more resilient. Resilience refers to the ability within a farming system to reduce the sensitivity to stress factors while maintaining productivity, the capacity for self-organisation, to learn, and to adapt to change. Resilience can be subdivided in the three features buffer capacity, self-organisation, and adaptive capacity. This study addresses differences in resilience of organic and non-organic cocoa farms, and the most important features that influence social-ecological resilience in cocoa farming systems. Indicators for resilience were defined in a transdisciplinary process with local experts and cocoa farmers in a workshop and focus groups. Indicators for buffer capacity were tree diversity, crop diversity, and the diversity of income sources of the farming family. Indicators for self-organisation were the interaction with farmers’ organisations, their subsistence level, cocoa yields, and the annual family income. Adaptive capacity was assessed by inquiring the number of courses on cocoa cultivation family members had participated in, and the number of information sources they had. We interviewed 52 certified and non-certified households and conducted an in-depth participant observation with 15 households from the sample. It resulted that organic farms in the research area were more diversified (tree species in cocoa plots: 4.4 vs. 1.9, crop diversity: 8.4 vs. 6.7 crop varieties on cocoa farms), and had higher cocoa yields (506 kg ha−1 yr−1 vs. 335.8 kg ha−1 yr−1, both without external inputs). Annual family income was significantly higher on organic farms with 7530.2 vs. 6044.4 USD. Organic farmers had participated in more courses on cocoa cultivation which may be the main reason for the better performance of their farms. We conclude that resilience building was enhanced by local organisations that organise organic certification and go further than basic organic certification principles by providing extension services, tree seedlings, capacity building, and certain social insurances

Applying the Theory of Access to Food Security among Smallholder Family Farmers around North-West Mount Kenya

Access to productive resources such as land and water is fundamental for households that rely on crop and livestock production for their livelihoods. Research often assumes that agricultural production—and thus, food security—are favoured by tenure security of resources (as represented by a “bundle of property rights”). However, research has not yet elucidated how food security is influenced by additional factors, represented within a “bundle of powers”. Guided by the Theory of Access developed by Ribot and Peluso, we explore the main factors in the respective bundles of rights and powers that influence household food security around north-west Mount Kenya. We interviewed 76 households—38 food secure and 38 food insecure—who were subsampled from a previous foodsecurity survey of 380 households. Results show that household food insecurity was not exclusively the result of a lack of private property rights as many farmers had retained their property rights. Instead, a major factor preventing access to productive resources was the difficulty faced by food insecure households in accessing farm technology (i.e. hand tools and implements). Access to authority and via social relations were significantly correlated with access to technology, so improving the latter must take into account the former

Learning and Adaptation in Food Systems: Insights from Four Case Studies in the Global South

This article presents empirical results on learning and adaptation to risks among different groups of actors in food systems in two countries of the global south (Kenya and Bolivia). Using a resilience approach, the study sought to assess knowledge about risks perceived by actors, forms of learning that actors in food systems have access to and use, and how this knowledge and learning has contributed to adaptation and resilience build ing. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, farmer meetings, workshops, and participant observation. The target population was different groups of actors in agroindustrial food systems in both countries, a regional food system in Kenya and an agroecological food system in Bolivia. The results show that knowledge on threats came from the actors’ experience and interaction with external actors. The main risks identified in Kenya and Bolivia included climate change impacts – particularly extreme climatic events (floods and droughts) –, price fluctuation of food products, declining soil fertility, deforestation, and –in Kenya– human-wildlife conflicts, and conflicts between actors over resource use. The most important forms of learning were experiential learning through demonstration farms, social learning exemplified in group approaches, and learning at individual levels through informationexchange between farmers and external actors such as extension personnel, research organisations and non-governmental organisations. There is potential to enhance adaptation strategies whose knowledge has been acquired over the years, to build resilient food systems necessary for dealing with current and future shocks and stress

The impact of lateral heat and water fluxes from thermokarst lakes on tundra landscape dynamics and permafrost degradation

Projected future warming of the Arctic will result in pronounced degradation of permafrost and thereby trigger large-scale landscape and ecosystem changes. In this context, the formation and expansion of thermokarst lakes play a key role as thermokarst dynamics represent a mechanism for abrupt degradation of permafrost soils. Using the process-based model CryoGrid-3 coupled to a model description of lake dynamics (FLake), we explore how the thermal and hydrological state of different permafrost landscapes is affected by an explicit consideration of the interaction between lakes and surrounding permafrost environments. Hereby we especially investigate the role of lateral fluxes in affecting the landscape heat and water budgets

Das nossas ciências ao diálogo intercientífico para a sustentabilidade alimentar e o desenvolvimento sustentável

 Este artigo discute as ciências endógenas como um sistema de conhecimentos que pode contribuir para a segurança e a soberania alimentar. Toma como premissa fundamental o reconhecimento de que todos os sistemas de conhecimentos milenares do mundo são ciências com suas próprias epistemologias e ontologias e isto implica em diferentes visões de vida e valorações, como é o caso dos conceitos de alimento e medicina. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar e promover marcos teóricos e metodológicos que levem ao diálogo intercientífico de saberes entre os diferentes sistemas de conhecimento do mundo, considerando o pluralismo epistemológico e o surgimento e/ou recriação de paradigmas das ciências e o desenvolvimento, e propondo delineamentos a partir da praxis para fortalecer o corpus cognitivo das ciências endógenas que aportem à sustentabilidade alimentar e ao desenvolvimento sustentável. Pode-se afirmar que o diálogo de saberes que parte da revalorização da sabedoria das nações e povos indígenas camponeses do mundo (que chamamos de intraculturalidade) e a transdisciplinaridade (acadêmica), tem sido a base para sustentar um marco teórico-conceitual e metodológico que permite aportar à construção de novos paradigmas das ciências e o desenvolvimento que se concretiza no diálogo intercientífico