Papers by Meine van noordwijk
Sustainablity, 2018
Food and nutrition security (FNS) rests on five pillars: availability, access, utilization, stabi... more Food and nutrition security (FNS) rests on five pillars: availability, access, utilization, stability, and sovereignty. We assessed the potentials of local agroforestry practices (AFPs) for enabling FNS for smallholders in the Yayu Biosphere Reserve (southwestern Ethiopia). Data was collected from 300 households in a stratified random sampling scheme through semi-structured interviews and farm inventory. Utility, edibility, and marketability value were the key parameters used to determine the potential of plants in the AFPs. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and correlation analysis were employed to determine the form, variation, and association of local AFP attributes. Homegarden, multistorey-coffee-system, and multipurpose-trees-on-farmlands are the predominant AFPs in Yayu. Multipurpose-trees-on-farmlands are used mainly for food production, multistorey-coffee-system for income-generation, and homegarden for both. The 127 useful plant species identified represent 10 major plant utility groups, with seven (food, fodder, fuel, coffee-shade, timber, non-timber-forest-products, and medicinal uses) found in all three AFPs. In total, 80 edible species were identified across all AFPs, with 55 being primarily cultivated for household food supply. Generally, household income emanates from four major sources, multistorey-coffee-system (60%), homegarden (18%), multipurpose-trees-on-farmlands (13%), and off-farm activities (11%). Given this variation in form, purpose, and extracted benefits, existing AFPs in Yayu support the FNS of smallholders in multiple ways.
Sustainability, 2019
Agroforestry, the intentional integration of trees with crops and/or livestock, can lead tomultip... more Agroforestry, the intentional integration of trees with crops and/or livestock, can lead tomultiple economic and ecological benefits compared to trees and crops/livestock grown separately.Field experimentation has been the primary approach to understanding the tree–crop interactionsinherent in agroforestry. However, the number of field experiments has been limited by slow treematuration and difficulty in obtaining consistent funding. Models have the potential to overcomethese hurdles and rapidly advance understanding of agroforestry systems. Hi‐sAFe is a mechanistic,biophysical model designed to explore the interactions within agroforestry systems that mix treeswith crops. The model couples the pre‐existing STICS crop model to a new tree model that includesseveral plasticity mechanisms responsive to tree–tree and tree–crop competition for light, water,and nitrogen. Monoculture crop and tree systems can also be simulated, enabling calculation of theland equivalent ratio. The model’s ...
Segregate or integrate for multifunctionality and sustained change through landscape agroforestry... more Segregate or integrate for multifunctionality and sustained change through landscape agroforestry involving rubber in Indonesia and China
Many external effects of land use change are based on modifications of lateral flows of soil, wat... more Many external effects of land use change are based on modifications of lateral flows of soil, water, air, fire or organisms. Lateral flows can be intercepted by filters and thus the severity and spatial range of external effects of land use change is under the influence of filter effects. Wherever lateral flows are involved, research results cannot be simply scaled on an area basis, and overall impact does not follow simple linear causal relationships. This complexity has consequences for relationships amongst the primary agents who initiate or exacerbate external effects, other stakeholders who are affected by them and policymakers who attempt to mitigate problems that reach sufficient visibility in society. In this paper we review how the relative importance of lateral flows and filter effects differs among a number of externalities, and the implications this has for research methods. If flows and filters are incompletely understood, policies may be based on fallacies. Whereas ‘fi...
Climate changes, especially increased variability, affect landscapes, human livelihoods and trees... more Climate changes, especially increased variability, affect landscapes, human livelihoods and trees in many ways. They are the consequence of a wider set of global change issues, including population increase, more consumption per capita and trade globalisation. Both people and trees can adapt to change at various time scales, but the current rate of change implies that pro-active planning as part of integrated rural development is needed. Lessons learnt from 'best practices' of rural development and natural resources management in the tropics suggest development strategies that can be shared more widely in the field and relevant research to support their refinement. In the current climate-change debates, 'trees' have received surprisingly little attention, while the issues of sustainable forest management are only beginning to appear on the agenda. Where national adaptation plans are made for developing countries, trees and forests both deserve full attention. Jointly, they are part of 'multifunctional landscapes'. This book focuses on the relationship between climate-change adaptation, rural development and the roles of trees and agroforestry. Rewards' schemes for environmental services (RES) in multifunctional landscapes, which provide incentives for maintaining or restoring multifunctionality, will contribute to a likely reduction in vulnerability to climate change. Rewards may well be an efficient and fair way of investing international funds in climate-change adaptation. The voluntary, conditional and pro-poor aspects of RES will also help to bring the voice of grassroots stakeholders into international and national decision-making processes on how to deal with climate change. That can ensure realism and efficiency in climate-change adaptation, which is yet another strand to be integrated in rural development programs. The argument for such an approach is built on the underlying concepts of climate change, rural livelihoods and multifunctionality of landscapes, as well as the specific roles of trees and farmers as providers of environmental services in agricultural landscapes. However, trees themselves are vulnerable to climate change and co-adaptation is needed and is possible. The emerging experience and findings of ongoing action research in Asian and African countries on climate change, agroforestry and rewards or payments for environmental services (RES/PES) are introduced in the book to highlight these arguments. The experience that RES/PES can create effective, efficient and fair incentives for enhancement of the environment is used to explore how climate-change adaptation funds could be channelled to support local initiatives, within realistic, conditional, voluntary and pro-poor incentive mechanisms. Priority areas for action and hypotheses for further research are identified, involving the roles of trees in modifying micro-and mesoclimates, refining the operational rules for use of climatechange adaptation funds, institutional expansion of the (already tested) rapid appraisal methods that acknowledge multiple knowledge systems and perceptions, analysing the risks to local livelihoods in ecological and environmental economics frameworks posed by climate change and trade globalisation and new approaches to integrate the space-time dynamics of landscape functions in socio-ecological-political-economy systems.
Sustainable use of sloping lands and watersheds requires ways to link downstream effects (negativ... more Sustainable use of sloping lands and watersheds requires ways to link downstream effects (negative or positive) to the decisions made upstream. The concept of ‘payments for environmental services’ and the use of market-based institutions for such is gaining ground. In this paper we will review the conceptual basis of such mechanisms and the existing array of institutional innovations in both insular and mainland Southeast Asia. Markets are by definition realistic, voluntary and conditional. Their effects on poverty are mixed. Many environmental issues and the increasing scarcity of ecosystem services are linked to ‘market failure’. Time-lags, complex cause-effect and multiple layers of rights and responsibilities of environmental issues make ‘service’ considerations externalities of decision making processes that are focussed on ‘marketable goods’. Which combination of characteristics, short of full markets, is needed for effective, efficient, sustainable and equitable mechanisms to...
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 2021
Agroforestry (AF)-based adaptation to global climate change can consist of (1) reversal of negati... more Agroforestry (AF)-based adaptation to global climate change can consist of (1) reversal of negative trends in diverse tree cover as generic portfolio risk management strategy; (2) targeted, strategic, shift in resource capture (e.g. light, water) to adjust to changing conditions (e.g. lower or more variable rainfall, higher temperatures); (3) vegetation-based influences on rainfall patterns; or (4) adaptive, tactical, management of tree-crop interactions based on weather forecasts for the (next) growing season. Forty years ago, a tree physiological research tradition in aboveground and belowground resource capture was established with questions and methods on climate-tree-soil-crop interactions in space and time that are still relevant for today’s challenges. After summarising early research contributions, we review recent literature to assess current levels of uncertainty in climate adaptation assessments in and through AF. Quantification of microclimate within and around tree cano...
Terrestrial carbon storage is one of a broader array of environmental services and lessons that c... more Terrestrial carbon storage is one of a broader array of environmental services and lessons that can be shared between the mechanisms developed or under development for watershed functions, biodiversity, carbon storage and landscape beauty. In many situations a “bundling” of services will be needed to provide suffi cient incentives for smallholders to avoid conversion to low-ES land use types. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is often considered to be intended for project-scale investment, with the reforestation CDMs focussed on fast growing trees. In fact, the mechanism can also be used by local government units to use an array of incentives to stimulate their farmers to convert the landscape to a more tree-based land use pattern, as long as a suffi cient part of the landscape makes the transition from non-forest (less than 30% crown cover with Indonesia’s operational forest defi nition) to forest (more than 30% crown cover of trees potentially growing to more than 5 m tall, at...
Agroforestry as land use based on planted trees, provides productive and protective (biological d... more Agroforestry as land use based on planted trees, provides productive and protective (biological diversity, healthy ecosystems, protection of soil and water resources, terrestrial carbon storage) forest functions that societies care about in the debate on sustainable forest management. Yet, the trees planted in agroforestry systems are excluded in formal definitions and statistics of ‘forestry plantations’ and overlooked in the legal and institutional framework for sustainable forest management. A paradigm shift is needed in the forestry sector and public debate to redress this oversight. We examine five issues that hinder a regreening revolution based on farmer tree planting to contribute to sustainable forest management. First, issues of terminology for forests, plantations and reforestation are linked to land tenure and land use restrictions. Second, access to high quality planting material of proven suitability remains a challenge, especially at the start of a farmer-tree-plantin...
Watershed functions that are based on the quantity, timing and quality of river flows are under t... more Watershed functions that are based on the quantity, timing and quality of river flows are under the influence of land use by a combination of effects on the green and brown cover provided by plant canopies and surface litter layers, on the soil surface properties and soil structure, and on the landscape-level drainage network. Opportunities for ‘eco-agriculture’ to maintain and restore watershed functions can be understood on the basis of the relatively rapid options for restoring green and brown cover, the asymmetric (rapid degradation, slow recovery) dynamics of soil structure and the modification of landscape-level drainage that may have been a neglected topic in previous discussions of land use change. We focus here on the changes in soil structure as the ‘slow variable’ that tends to dominate the long-term opportunities for keeping watersheds productive as well as suppliers of quality water at the desired time. Introduction Watershed functions and the way they are affected by ‘...
835 The way watersheds buffer the temporal pattern of river flow relative to the temporal 836 pat... more 835 The way watersheds buffer the temporal pattern of river flow relative to the temporal 836 pattern of rainfall is an important ecosystem service. Part of this buffering is inherent to 837 its geology and climate, but another part is responding to human use and misuse of the 838 landscape, and can be part of management feedback loops if salient, credible and 839 legitimate indicators can be found and used. Dissecting the anthropogenic change from 840 exogenous variability (e.g. the specific time-space pattern of rainfall during an 841 observation period) is relevant for designing and monitoring of watershed management 842 interventions. Part I introduced the concept of flow persistence, key to a parsimonious 843 recursive model of river flow. It also discussed the operational derivation of the Fp 844 parameter. Here we compare Fp estimates from four meso-scale watersheds in Indonesia 845 (Cidanau, Way Besai, and Bialo) and Thailand (Mae Chaem), with varying climate, 846 geology an...
This paper reports on the ongoing work of the ICRAF Southeast Asia programme related to to the pr... more This paper reports on the ongoing work of the ICRAF Southeast Asia programme related to to the priorities set by the CGIAR and MDGs. It also explains how the activities are in line with the program Revitalization of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’ announced by the Indonesian President on June 11 2005.
As agriculture evolves from a pure production focus to considerations of the multifunctionality o... more As agriculture evolves from a pure production focus to considerations of the multifunctionality of the rural landscape, the rationale and possible mechanisms need attention for internalizing the environmental services that have largely remains externalities in the dominant decision process. While this discussion in developed countries is politically linked to the acceptability of ‘agricultural; subsidies’, the concerns in the developing countries are directly linked to poverty reduction and millenium development goals. This paper derives from an effort to synthesize current experience across the developing world of what is broadly described as compensation and rewards for environmental services (CRES), and is focussed on criteria and indicators, and typologies of situations. Two main classes and four main criteria were formulated. The first class relates to the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the CRES institutions, with the environmental services as the primary targe...
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has become one of the pillar... more Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has become one of the pillars of international climate policy, but operational mechanisms to simultaneously achieve climate change mitigation, livelihood enhancement, and conservation objectives are lacking. The literature on the trade-offs between these multiple objectives is limited and expectations of win-win solutions may be inflated. This chapter presents a case of bottomup analysis of trade-offs in the southern forest area of Cameroon drawing from more than a decade of research by the ASB (Alternative to Slash-and-Burn) Partnership. The data may broadly represent the land use options of the tropical rainforest zone of west and central Africa. Trade-offs are measured using indicators of carbon (time-averaged stocks), profitability (net present value), and plant biodiversity (species count, Plant Functional Types (“PFTs” or “modi” and the Vegetation Index “V” index.) at the tropical forest margins. Conversion f...
Preface In the context of the wider debate on reduction of carbon emissions from tropical defores... more Preface In the context of the wider debate on reduction of carbon emissions from tropical deforestation and forest degradation, this report reviews current tools and methodologies for the planning of emissions reductions projects across all land uses in a REALU (Reducing Emissions from All Land Uses) value chain. This work supports Phase II of the REALU project, a joint effort of the ASB Partnership and several partner organizations. The overarching goal of this project is to develop, through action research, a set of approaches, methodologies and national capacity to implement effective landscape-based strategies for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+), within a context of sustainable rural development, national sovereignty, respect for indigenous rights, and integrity of a global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) accounting system. Phase I of this project was based on research and reviews of key areas to enhance understanding of landscape approaches to REDD+ and the i...
Working markets are by definition realistic, voluntary and conditional. Their effects on poverty ... more Working markets are by definition realistic, voluntary and conditional. Their effects on poverty and human well-being are mixed. Many environmental problems and the increasing scarcity of ecosystem services are linked to ‘market failures’. Time lags, complex cause-effect linkages, and multiple layers of rights and responsibilities, make many environmental ‘service’ considerations externalities of decision-making processes focussed on ‘marketable goods’. Which combination of characteristics is needed for mechanisms that internalize the costs and benefits of ecosystem utilization enough to avoid environmental degradation beyond thresholds of sustainability? Can market-based mechanisms be pro-poor? We set out to identify mutually – beneficial opportunities for the ‘modifiers’ and ‘beneficiaries’ of environmental services to develop agreements and contracts as an alternative to a purely regulatory approach to environmental management. We do not ignore regulation, but rather see regulati...
Land
Restoration depends on purpose and context. At the core it entails innovation to halt ongoing and... more Restoration depends on purpose and context. At the core it entails innovation to halt ongoing and reverse past degradation. It aims for increased functionality, not necessarily recovering past system states. Location-specific interventions in social-ecological systems reducing proximate pressures, need to synergize with transforming generic drivers of unsustainable land use. After reviewing pantropical international research on forests, trees, and agroforestry, we developed an options-by-context typology. Four intensities of land restoration interact: R.I. Ecological intensification within a land use system, R.II. Recovery/regeneration, within a local social-ecological system, R.III. Reparation/recuperation, requiring a national policy context, R.IV. Remediation, requiring international support and investment. Relevant interventions start from core values of human identity while addressing five potential bottlenecks: Rights, Know-how, Markets (inputs, outputs, credit), Local Ecosyst...
Land
Belowground roles of agroforestry in climate change mitigation (C storage) and adaptation (reduce... more Belowground roles of agroforestry in climate change mitigation (C storage) and adaptation (reduced vulnerability to drought) are less obvious than easy-to-measure aspects aboveground. Documentation on these roles is lacking. We quantified the organic C concentration (Corg) and soil physical properties in a mountainous landscape in Sulawesi (Indonesia) for five land cover types: secondary forest (SF), multistrata cocoa–based agroforestry (CAF) aged 4–5 years (CAF4), 10–12 years (CAF10), 17–34 years (CAF17), and multistrata (mixed fruit and timber) agroforest (MAF45) aged 45–68 years. With four replicate plots per cover type, we measured five pools of C-stock according to IPCC guidelines, soil bulk density (BD), macro porosity (MP), hydraulic conductivity (Ks), and available water capacity of the soil (AWC). The highest C-stock, in SF, was around 320 Mg ha−1, the lowest, 74 Mg ha−1, was in CAF4, with the older agroforestry systems being intermediate with 120 to 150 Mg ha−1. Soil compa...
Titles in the Working Paper series aim to disseminate interim results on agroforestry research an... more Titles in the Working Paper series aim to disseminate interim results on agroforestry research and practices, and stimulate feedback from the scientific community. Other publication series from the World Agroforestry Centre include: Technical Manuals, Occasional Papers and the Trees for Change Series.
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Papers by Meine van noordwijk