Building resilience to climate change through a landscape design approach

Transcription

1 Building resilience to climate change through a landscape design approach Jean Christophe Castella, Marion Rivera, Leonor Bonnin, Sisavath Phimmasone, Pascal Lienhard, Soulikone Chaivanhna Regional Forum on Climate Change (RFCC), 1 3 July 2015, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand Outline The agrarian transition in the uplands of Lao PDR Influencing agrarian changes Conceptual framework: ecological intensification Operational framework: a landscape approach to agroecology Understanding village trajectories Designing climate smart landscapes 1

2 The agrarian transition in the uplands of Lao PDR Changing landscapes changing livelihoods Swidden agriculture Subsistence farming Staple crops little cash Forest resources NTFP Livestock as savings High poverty rate Strong social ties High biodiversity Rubber mono cropping Commercial crop Cash income > buy rice No forest safety net Large livestock sold Better off farmers Individualistic behaviors Low biodiversity The agrarian transition in the uplands of Lao PDR Changing landscapes changing vulnerabilities Forest Swidden Ecosystem services Low carbon practices Maintain biodiversity Resilience to external shocks Agric. Poverty, limited assets, but Multifunctional landscapes Traditional coping mechanisms alternative food sources in forests and rivers, livestock, social solidarity Forest Carbon sequestration Water regulation Soil conservation Biodiversity Decreasing NTFP safety net Ecosystem services Increased population Agriculture Indebtness Vulnerability to - climatic events - economic shocks Restricted access to nat.resources Increased return to labor & land Socioeconomic differentiation Better off, better education, but Degraded, less diverse environment New coping mechanisms crop specialization chemical input use indebtedness Castella J.C. et al. (2013) Effects of landscape segregation on livelihood vulnerability. Human Ecology 41(1)

3 The agrarian transition in the uplands of Lao PDR Changing agricultural practices: a continuum of local situations between 2 unsustainable extremes Shifting cultivation Shortening fallows years > 3 5 years Increased labour requirement for weeding Decreasing yields High input monocropping Mechanization Increased use of chemical inputs Decreasing yields Which alternatives? Which intervention mechanisms? towards ecological intensification Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands Natural eco Traditional swidden Healthy landscapes Ecological knowledge Social capital Ecosystem services - Biodiversity - Carbon Durability - resilience Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Intensive monocrop Degraded landscapes Managed landscapes Conceptual framework Griffon M. (2013) Qu est ce que l agriculture écologiquement intensive? Édition Quae, Paris 3

4 Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands Natural eco Traditional swidden Healthy landscapes Opportunity windows Ecologically intensive Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Intensive monocrop Degraded landscapes Managed landscapes Conceptual framework Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands Natural eco Traditional swidden Healthy landscapes Ecologically intensive Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Intensive monocrop Degraded landscapes Managed landscapes Conceptual framework 4

5 Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands Natural eco Traditional swidden Healthy landscapes Ecologically intensive Agroecological practices biomass increase and recycling protect soils and biogeochemical cycles optimize functional agrobiodiversity harness beneficial natural interactions Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Intensive monocrop Degraded landscapes Managed landscapes A landscape approach to agroecology Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands Natural eco Traditional swidden Healthy landscapes Ecologically intensive Landscape approach understand the diversity of local contexts co design desirable landscape multicriteria evaluation of performances manage different sources of knowledge Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Intensive monocrop Degraded landscapes Managed landscapes A landscape approach to agroecology 5

6 Understanding village trajectories Lowland intensification Vegetable Swidden agriculture Remote areas Forest cover Segregation agric forest Soil erosion Inequalities Tree plantations Accessible areas Upland intensification Upland crops (maize) Castella J.C., Lestrelin G., Buchheit P. (2012) The agrarian transition in the northern uplands of Lao PDR: A meta analysis of changes in landscapes and livelihoods. 3rd International Conference on Conservation Agriculture in Southeast Asia. Hanoi Understanding village trajectories Diversity of villages and agricultural can be understood as a combination of a limited number of factors: Geomorphology village located on top of hill or along river percentage of lowland / upland Accessibility village accessible whole year or only dry season access to market opportunities and services Population density and dynamics composition (ethnic groups) History social capital governance of natural resources 6

7 Understanding village trajectories F2 (16,46 %) 1 0,75 0,5 0,25 0 0,25 0,5 0,75 1 Plantation area Upland rice prod Poor Medium Maize prod Pig Farm inc off farm inc Assets Big livestock Fish pond Rich Paddy prod HH members Labor force 1 0,75 0,5 0,25 0 0,25 0,5 0,75 1 F1 (27,69 %) e.g. Vangseng village Population changes From children to 3 4 Better education, less arms for agriculture Paddy swidden interactions Objective: rice sufficiency Increasing paddy > decreasing swidden Livestock Savings, cash income, but Disease outbreaks, unpredictable losses Maize (cash crops) expansion Increasing income indebtedness Land degradation Plantations Securing land tenure Market uncertainty (mak kao, rubber, etc.) Operational framework Understanding village trajectories + household surveys + focus group discussions MLAK/HH Houaykay Samsoom Hadphaot Houayvat Data analysis Typology of land use patterns and landscape management styles 7

8 Understanding village trajectories Hadphaot Landscape segregation o rubber concession (Chinese company), o livestock area (district policy) o conservation forest area Shrinking agricultural area o Agric. intensification in gardens o Diversification with sesame and plantation o Improved pasture for livestock Understanding village trajectories Houaykai Maize expansion o road opening for cash crops o use of herbicides on maize indebtedness o conversion of rice fallows o deforestation land degradation Poverty trap o poor fallow > no way back to swidden rice o pay debts by selling rice > food insecurity o shift to off farm jobs and migration 8

9 Understanding village trajectories Samsoom Population changes o migration of several households o search paddy land elsewhere o less children, longer studies limited labor force Diversification of agric. activities o cucumber and job s tear in swidden fields o interest in gardening but lack water o intensification of livestock > need to change crop livestock management Understanding village trajectories Houayvat Poor accessibility o limited access to market o no road to production areas o pigeon pea stick lak village limited options for income generation Complex landscape mosaics o scattered cultivation by individual households o limited strength of village committee o constraints to livestock intensification 9

10 Understanding village trajectories External and internal pressure for change Hadphaot Houayvat Samsoom DIVERSIFICATION Houaykai INTENSIFICATION Landscape artificialisation Designing climate smart landscapes Samsoom Houayvat Cover crops Control of roaming animals Improved fallow Improved pasture A landscape approach to agroecology 10

11 Take home messages Complexity of agrarian changes in the uplands > need for a landscape approach to agroecology innovation Villages are the lower landscape management unit > relevant intervention level for sustainable intensification An agrarian transition with multiple trajectories of villages > requires specific diagnostic and intervention approaches o to capture the dynamics (baseline + monitoring system) o to adapt generic agroecology principles to the specificities and singular trajectory of each village Thank you for your attention 11