new agrarian transition and farming system dynamics in...

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KEYNOTE SESSION 1

AGRARIAN TRANSITION AND FARMING SYSTEM DYNAMICS IN THE UPLANDS OF SOUTHEAST ASIAUPLANDS OF SOUTHEAST ASIAJean-Christophe CastellaInstitut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) Vientiane, Lao PDR

Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Upland LivelihoodsThe 3rd International Conference on Conservation Agriculture in Southeast Asia – 10 December 2012 - Hanoi

OUTLINE

Land use trajectories and the agrarian changesThe origins of SEA agricultures: rice civilizations - commercial plantationsThe drivers of change: agricultural expansion and intensificationUpland farmers, left behind mainstream development trends

Socio-ecological issues associated with land use transitions in the uplands

Deforestation, land degradation and povertyCommercial agriculture and livelihood vulnerability

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Territorialisation of the margins and landscape governance

What are the prospects for conservation agriculture?Adapting innovations to a dual agricultureIdentifying windows of opportunity in space and timeConnecting actor-networks and negotiating innovation pathway

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Land use trajectories

Rice civilisationsS idden agric lt re:

THE ORIGINS OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN AGRICULTURES

•The origins of SEA agricultures•The drivers of change•Upland farming

Socio-ecological issues

•Deforestation•Livelihood vulnerability

Swidden agriculture: • low population densities• high return to labour• segmental social organizationLowland paddies:• high population densities• high return to land• hierarchical social organization

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•Landscape governance

Prospects for conservation agriculture?

•Adapting innovations•Windows of opportunity•Actor-networks

Commercial tree plantationsCoffee, rubber and oil palm for export• colonial period –> expansion 20th century• large farms vs. smallholder plantations• mono-species vs. agroforests

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Land use trajectoriesAgricultural intensification

THE DRIVERS OFAGRARIAN CHANGES




Green Revolution• improved seeds, fertilisers and pesticides• pro-active government policies (subsidies,

investments in R&D, etc.)

Agricultural expansionColonisation of the upland margins• population resettlement - pioneer fronts

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population resettlement pioneer fronts• reconfiguration of rural territories and relations

between lowlands and uplands

THE DRIVERS OF AGRARIAN CHANGES

National integration Land use trajectories

•asserting political control over remote upland areas, populations and resources•colonising the ‘margins’ through state-sponsored agricultural expansion•providing upland ethnic minorities with better access to state services




6Lestrelin G., Castella J.C., Bourgoin J. (2012) Territorializing sustainable development: The politics of land-use planning in the Lao PDR. Journal of Contemporary Asia 42(4), 581-602.




or up the hills (pioneer fronts)

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•stopping land degradation: logging bans

Sustainabledevelopment



•land use planning•scientific expertise: international aid










agribusiness companies








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THE IMPACTS OF AGRICULTURALEXPANSION - INTENSIFICATION




10

20

30

40

50

60

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

Rice

are

a (m

illio

n ha

)

Rice

yie

ld (t

)

yield

cropped area

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001960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Source : FAO-Stat 2012

Land use trajectoriesImproved food security





rice production growth rates exceeded population growth rates

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

150

200

250

ion

(mill

ion)

ctio

n (m

illio

n t)

population

10




0

200

400

600

800

0

50

100

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Popu

lat

Rice

pro

du

rice production

Source : FAO-Stat 2012

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Land use trajectoriesImproved food security





rice production growth rates exceeded population growth ratesdecline in rice price benefited the rural poorfeed the urban population, ensuring greater competitiveness of agro-industrial products

An export-based agricultural developmentagro-industrial development, emergence of the

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g p g‘Asian Tigers’urbanisation - changes in consumption patternsrural exodus –> adaptations to lack of rural workforce: e.g. direct sowing, mechanisation


Upland farmers, left behind by mainstream development trends

IMPACTS ONUPLAND FARMING SYSTEMS




development trends…the Green Revolution remained marginal in the mountains: limited to favourable lowlands,swidden agriculture under pressure from governments ->shortening fallow periods

labo

ur

Swidden commercialagriculture

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•Adapting innovations•Windows of opportunity•Actor-networksReturn on land

Retu

rn o

n

Paddy

weed problemssoil erosionland degradationdeclining productivity

direct sowingmechanisationdouble croppingincreasing productivity

agriculture

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Land use trajectoriesUpland farmers, left behind by mainstream

development trends

IMPACTS ONUPLAND FARMING SYSTEMS




development trends…

…explore alternative agricultural pathwayschanges in swidden practices• use of chemical fertilisers, herbicides,• crop–livestock associations, organic fertilisers, • tillage on slopes,land use conversion - intensification

terracing where labour capital and water are

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• terracing where labour, capital and water are available and land tenure is secured,

• also contour hedgerows, grass strips, but limited adoption,

diversification• hybrid maize, cassava grown with shorter fallow periods• smallholder tree plantations• off-farm

Paddies – irrigated terraces Pasture

LAND USE TRANSITIONS AND UPLAND FARMING SYSTEMS

Forest

Bush fallow

Swiddencultivation(upland rice)

(lowland rice)

Agroforests

Permanent cultivation on

hillsides

Livestock

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Agroforests(rubber, damar…)

Plantation (monospecific)

Clonal rubberOil palm

Acacia mangium…

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DOff-farm-Livestock /

agroforest-Commercial crop-Perennial plantation-Off-farm income

CA

PITA

L

Capital, i

HOUSEHOLD DIFFERENTIATION PROCESS

B

C

Livestock

Plantation-Fixed Rotation Cropping-Livestock / agroforest-Commercial crop-Perennial plantation

-Fixed Rotation Cropping-Livestock

Agroforestry

Capital and Land

regular income

Agroforest

AShifting

Cultivation

TIME1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008

- Agroforestry

Rice surplus

Paddy


SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL ISSUESDEFORESTATION

290000•The origins of SEA agricultures•The drivers of change•Upland farming


•Deforestation•Livelihood vulnerability170000

190000

210000

230000

250000

270000

x 10

00 h

a

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Changes in forest cover in Southeast Asia (Source : FAO-Stat 2012)

1500001960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

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Land use trajectoriesLand ‘degradation chain’ discourses

SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL ISSUESDEFORESTATION




deforestation -> soil erosion -> siltation of reservoirsswidden systems -> spiral of povertydiversification -> HH differentiation -> inequalities

Uplands development policies forest preservation - conservation areas eradication of swidden agriculture

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resettlements - land use planning

-> government policies have a critical impact on land uses and livelihoods

Impact of resettlements and Land & Forest Allocation (Ban Lak Sip)

CRITICAL LAND SHORTAGEAND LAND DEGRADATION

SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL ISSUESLIVELIHOOD VULNERABILITY

and

Land & Forest Allocation

per

sq.k

m o

f cul

tiva

ble

l

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Natural population growth

Resettlement plans

Lestrelin, G., Giordano, M. (2007). Upland development policy, livelihood change and land degradation: interactions from a Laotian village. Land degradation and development 18, 55-76.

Pop.

den

sity

p

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Land use trajectoriesGovt lease land concessions to investors

SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL ISSUESLIVELIHOOD VULNERABILITY




land leases for tree crop plantation (e.g. oil palm)extraction and sale of the timber in concessionsland grabs, evicted HH, migrant workers

Contract farming (state, company, farmer)nucleus estate model, 2+3 contract farmingrelations between upland dwellers and agribusiness companies are multiple and complex

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g p p ptend to specialise in a limited number of commodities, indebtedness, price fluctuations -> vulnerability

-> multinational agribusiness companies are replacing the states in driving land use transitions


Transformations of agrarian landscapesfrom complex landscape mosaics to

SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL ISSUESLANDSCAPE GOVERNANCE




from complex landscape mosaics to homogeneous landscapesnegative impacts on ecosystem services (e.g. water, biodiversity)

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•Adapting innovations•Windows of opportunity•Actor-networksCastella J.C., et al. (2013) Effects of landscape segregation on livelihood vulnerability: Moving from extensive

shifting cultivation to rotational agriculture and natural forests in northern Laos. Human Ecology

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Transformations of agrarian landscapes

SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL ISSUESLANDSCAPE GOVERNANCE

8090

100

S idd •The origins of SEA agricultures•The drivers of change•Upland farming



01020304050607080

SulawesiLampungJambi (1)

Landscape trajectories in Indonesia

Swidden

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Agroforest Monoculture

Feintrenie L, Schwarze S, Levang P. 2010. Are local people conservationists? Analysis of transition dynamics from agroforests to monoculture plantations in Indonesia. Ecology & Society, 15 (4): 37.

Land use trajectoriesNeed for alternative cropping systems

WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE?




in Indonesia, complex agroforests retain about half of the biodiversity, but converted to oil palmin 2005, the govt of Laos issued a decree that generalises the use of conservation agricultureno magic bullet need to rethink and adapt research practices

Adapting innovations to a dual agriculturei t f idd i lt i th l d

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persistence of swidden agriculture in the uplandscomplex interactions between intensive and extensive systemscomplementary role of smallholder and agribusiness companies, public – private sectors

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Identifying windows of opportunity





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Lestrelin G., Castella J.C. (2011) Opportunities and challenges for the adoption of Conservation Agriculture in maize production areas of Laos. Proceedings of the 5th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, 26-29th September 2011, Brisbane Australia, pp. 42-43.

Two critical windows of opportunity for CA related interventions


Identifying regularities in transition processeskey moments for intervention along specific agro-





y g p gecological transition pathwaystrajectories repeat themselves in time and space lessons can be drawn from the past experiences of neighbouring countriesadapting intervention mechanisms to socio-ecological context (e.g. land tenure security)

Connecting actor-networksh t i t f t th

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researchers, extension agents, farmers are not the only actors to be involved in innovation processessocio-technical systems can be transformed by combining bottom-up pilot experiments with top-down advocacy approachescollective actions aimed at designing more desirable futures (e.g. Landcare organisations)

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Connecting actor-networksneed to identify intervention mechanisms

HIGHAgricultural extension

Other govt departments

Agribusiness companies

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Donors

MinistryAgriculture

NGOs

District

Power to contribute to CA




need to identify intervention mechanisms, dynamics of power relations, etc.

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LOW

Small-holders

Village user groups

Traders

administration

Village chiefs

LOW

HIGHPotential to contribute to CA diffusion

to CA diffusion





Negotiating agro-ecological transitionsinflections or bifurcations in land use trajectories are





inflections or bifurcations in land use trajectories are systematically linked with some kind of negotiation among stakeholders,the quality of the negotiation is determined by who takes part, the level and quality of information held by each stakeholder, and power relations,

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Negotiating agro-ecological transitions





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•Adapting innovations•Windows of opportunity•Actor-networksBourgoin J., Castella J.C., Hett C., Lestrelin G., Heinimann A. (2013) Engaging local communities in low

emissions land use planning: a case study in Laos. Ecology and Society

CONCLUSIONS

Innovations for, with and by farmers to adapt to local and global changes require:to local and global changes require:

to identify opportunity windowsto design context-relevant intervention mechanismsto engage local communities in negotiating their own pathways towards Conservation Agriculture

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new agrarian transition and farming system dynamics in...

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