A Framework to Assess Forest-Agricultural Landscape Management for Socioecological Well-Being Outcomes

Sergio G. Milheiras; Susannah M. Sallu; Andrew R. Marshall; Deo D. Shirima; Esther N. Kioko; Robin Loveridge; Eleanor Moore; Pieter Olivier; Yit Arn Teh; Stephen Rushton; Marion Pfeifer

doi:10.3389/ffgc.2022.709971

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A Framework to Assess Forest-Agricultural Landscape Management for Socioecological Well-Being Outcomes

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A Framework to Assess Forest-Agricultural Landscape Management for Socioecological Well-Being Outcomes

Sergio G. Milheiras, Susannah M. Sallu, Andrew R. Marshall, Deo D. Shirima, Esther N. Kioko, Robin Loveridge, Eleanor Moore, Pieter Olivier, Yit Arn Teh, Stephen Rushton, …

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, Vol.5, pp.1-13

2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.709971

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Abstract

Africa

biodiversity

ecosystem restoration

multifunctionality

rural development

sustainable livelihoods

Global demand for agricultural products continues to grow. However, efforts to boost productivity exacerbate existing pressures on nature, both on farms and in the wider landscape. There is widespread appreciation of the critical need to achieve balance between biodiversity and human well-being in rural tropical crop production landscapes, that are essential for livelihoods and food security. There is limited empirical evidence of the interrelationships between natural capital, the benefits and costs of nature and its management, and food security in agricultural landscapes. Agroforestry practices are frequently framed as win-win solutions to reconcile the provision of ecosystem services important to farmers (i.e., maintaining soil quality, supporting pollinator, and pest control species) with nature conservation. Yet, underlying trade-offs (including ecosystem disservices linked to pest species or human-wildlife conflicts) and synergies (e.g., impact of ecosystem service provision on human well-being) are seldom analysed together at the landscape scale. Here, we propose a systems model framework to analyse the complex pathways, with which natural capital on and around farms interacts with human well-being, in a spatially explicit manner. To illustrate the potential application of the framework, we apply it to a biodiversity and well-being priority landscape in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania, a public-private partnership for increasing production of cash and food crops. Our framework integrates three main dimensions: biodiversity (using tree cover and wildlife as key indicators), food security through crop yield and crop health, and climate change adaptation through microclimate buffering of trees. The system model can be applied to analyse forest-agricultural landscapes as socio-ecological systems that retain the capacity to adapt in the face of change in ways that continue to support human well-being. It is based on metrics and pathways that can be quantified and parameterised, providing a tool for monitoring multiple outcomes from management of forest-agricultural landscapes. This bottom-up approach shifts emphasis from global prioritisation and optimisation modelling frameworks, based on biophysical properties, to local socio-economic contexts relevant in biodiversity-food production interactions across large parts of the rural tropics.

Details

Title: A Framework to Assess Forest-Agricultural Landscape Management for Socioecological Well-Being Outcomes
Authors: Sergio G. Milheiras (Author) - Newcastle University
Susannah M. Sallu (Author) - University of Leeds
Andrew R. Marshall (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Tropical Forests and People Research Centre
Deo D. Shirima (Author) - Sokoine University of Agriculture
Esther N. Kioko (Author) - National Museums of Kenya
Robin Loveridge (Author) - University of York
Eleanor Moore (Author) - Newcastle University
Pieter Olivier (Author) - University of Pretoria
Yit Arn Teh (Author) - Newcastle University
Stephen Rushton (Author) - Newcastle University
Marion Pfeifer (Author) - Newcastle University
Publication details: Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, Vol.5, pp.1-13
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
Date published: 2022
DOI: 10.3389/ffgc.2022.709971
ISSN: 2624-893X
Copyright note: © 2022 Milheiras, Sallu, Marshall, Shirima, Kioko, Loveridge, Moore, Olivier, Teh, Rushton and Pfeifer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99652298002621
Output Type: Journal article