查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 Elsevier LtdWell-functioning agricultural land markets are a precondition for agricultural and rural development in general. However, agricultural land markets remain weak and still face many constraints in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. By applying a conceptual framework for agricultural land market development in five stages, the paper assesses the current development stage of land markets in countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and discusses the main constraints including informalities, absent owners, technical errors and complicated and costly land transaction procedures. Most of the countries have farm structures characterized by excessive land fragmentation and small average farm sizes. The need for coherent national land policies is argued. Furthermore, land management instruments such as land consolidation and land banking in addition to facilitating agricultural and rural development also contribute to land market development.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 The AuthorsA systematic understanding of the dynamics of land consumption is extremely important for human well-being and especially vital for the ecological balance of the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region. Remarkable land use/land cover changes due to climate change, urbanization, and food demand have affected the spatio-temporal dynamics of built-up land footprints (BLFs) in SSA. By using spatial econometric techniques, this study investigates the spatio-temporal evolution and key drivers of built-up land footprints in 28 SSA countries from 2000 to 2017. Our results show how an appropriate consideration of the role of spatial effects can shed new insights into the convergence process of built-up land footprints. Foremost, the study reveals significant evidence of both absolute and conditional β convergence in BLFs over the experimental period. Additionally, the estimation indicates that biocapacity plays an important role in cutting built-up land footprints in SSA countries as there was a faster conditional convergence in countries with higher biocapacity. Moreover, the study outlined that the promotion of globalization and urbanization draws more pressure on the built-up environment and makes it challenging to reduce BLFs in SSA. In addition, this study found evidence for an inverted U-shaped nexus between per capita built-up land footprints and per capita gross domestic product (GDP), supporting the prediction of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 Elsevier LtdThe issue of agricultural land loss in urban and suburban areas, paired with the societal demand for local food provision, calls for the development of innovative procedures aiming at preserving agricultural land to secure local food provision. However, the implementation of such procedures raises concerns about the evolution of land governance for food purposes. From this perspective, this article analyses changes brought about by the French procedure for the protection of natural and agricultural peri-urban areas (PAEN: périmètres de protection des espaces agricoles et naturels), in light of the framework of the institutional design principles mainly developed by Elinor Ostrom. By analysing the PAEN procedure in the Lyon Metropolitan area in France, we show how this procedure is leading to evolutions in farmland governance, is participating to the attribution of new property rights to the actors involved in this governance and is questioning the status of agricultural land.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 The AuthorsResults-based agri-environmental schemes (AES) seek to overcome reluctance to adopt other forms of AES in the European Union. Instead of complying with inflexible land management prescriptions, farmers receive payments after certain contracted environmental results are verified. In addition to reducing the organizational and administrative burdens, this practice allows farmers to focus on which practices can achieve the desired environmental outcomes. Farmer uptake of results-based payments may be limited by risk-adverse behavior, such as fear of not meeting environmental targets and forfeiting the contracted payment. This study investigated participation in a hypothetical results-based AES among arable farmers in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the number of hectares enrolled (participation intensity). Our hypothetical scheme sought to foster biodiversity in pollinator and bird species by supporting weed-species richness in intensive arable production. Our split-treatment research design investigated how social nudging influences acceptance and intensity. Approximately 60% of the 63 farmers in our convenience sample expressed a willingness to participate in our hypothetical scheme. Using a Heckman style selection model, we could not detect any effect of the social nudge tested on the likelihood of participation or its intensity. Cognitive factors correlated positively with the likelihood of participation, whereas social and dispositional factors correlated with participation intensity. Perceived lack of control was the main obstacle found to adoption. The findings suggest that policies can mitigate barriers to acceptance by reducing the bureaucratic burden and being transparent over expected costs and ecosystem benefits. This study was the first to investigate farmers' acceptance of a hypothetical results-based AES that targets the enrichment of biodiversity in arable farming and thus may serve as a stepping stone for follow-up studies.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) provides essential raw material used in the textile, feed, and vegetable oil sectors. Therefore, it is a strategic crop for agricultural, economic, and political strategies around the world. Accurate monitoring of the changes in the cotton production patterns is crucial for decision-makers. Turkey is among the top ten cotton producers and ranks fourth in the world for cotton imports. One third of the total cotton production in Turkey comes from the southeastern Anatolia region of the country. This study analyzed the impact of subsidy and regulation policies on fluctuations in cotton production areas and soil and water quality in Harran Plains, southeastern Anatolia region Turkey. Time-series (between 2016 and 2021) satellite images were utilized to determine actual crop rotation in the study area. Turkish Government implemented a new rule for crop subsidies in 2020 which stated that a farmer will be eligible for subsidy for two consecutive years; however the subsidy will not be paid if the same crop is planted in the third year. Cotton was cultivated in 83 % of the Harran plains prior to new subsidy regulation, which decreased to 26 % after the new regulation. Sudden decrease in cotton cultivation area clearly indicated that farmers need public support to cover the costs in agricultural production. The Gross Production Value (BPV) for each crop was calculated to determine the impact of subsidy regulation on economic value of crops in the rotation.The GPV in 2020 was 2.903,7 $ ha?1 that was 33.6 % and 20.5 % lower than 2019 and 2021, respectively. The results indicated that crop subsidies significantly altered the crop selection behavior of farmers. Water requirement of crops in rotation between 2016 and 2021 was calculated to assess the effects of subsidy changes on water consumption. Cotton cultivation over a large part of the plains during the same season caused excessive water consumption, rise in groundwater level over time, soil salinity and severe water erosion. However, cotton cultivation area as well as water consumption in Harran plain new significantly decreased with the new subsidy regulation; therefore, water consumption in 2020 was the lowest among the time frame evaluated. Total sediment losses through surface runoff from the Harran Plain was estimated as 0.83 tons ha?1 per year. The results revealed that subsidies exert significant impacts on the gross production value in the region, amount of irrigation water consumed, and quality of soil and water resources in addition to the impact on the decision of farmers for crop selection.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 Elsevier LtdEffective incentive programs for farmers to conserve biodiversity on their properties are vital for sustainability. Most such programs have focussed on natural areas, like revegetating waterways, but novel agricultural habitats amplify the commitment required of farmers and the need for collaboration in the conservation process. The rice fields of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin are a key habitat for a globally endangered waterbird, the Australasian bittern, but early and sufficient ponding periods that facilitate successful breeding are inconsistent with maximising yield per megalitre of water used. We aimed to understand farmers’ willingness to undertake ‘bittern-friendly’ rice growing practices and their preferences for hypothetical incentive programs. Public recognition of the habitat values of their fields was a key motivation for participation, and, across the industry, we estimated that rice growers were willing to forgo an annual profit margin totalling $AU1.42 million per annum to further bittern conservation. We tested for social desirability bias, finding the inferred valuation – their nearest rice growing neighbour – was 51 % lower, but still a substantial in-kind contribution. More than half of growers did not need compensation to control foxes and cats, or to avoid herbicide use on rice bay banks, while about a third would undertake each of the other conservation actions. For financial incentives, a choice experiment showed the payment rate was important but farmers strongly preferred less demanding management requirements. The 11-day variation in ponding commencement and period was highly valued by growers, and can be crucial to bitterns. Growers also preferred higher levels of contract flexibility, while the intensity of compliance monitoring had little impact on their choices. The preferred incentive type was to use public environmental water with no money exchanged, followed by a consumer-funded program with bittern-friendly rice products, and a standard government contract, whereas a pledge system and a tender were relatively unpopular. Bittern-friendly rice growing incentive programs should be successful if they foster custodianship, harness in-kind contributions, improve rice farming's public image, and work with growers where opportunity costs for additional water are low.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 Elsevier LtdThe global literature on the ownership of, access to and control over land for agricultural activities, specifically for cocoa production, reports on gender discrimination, which affects the productivity and wellbeing of women farmers. Yet, the relationship between changing tenure dynamics and women's access to land is inconclusive and blurred in many sub-Saharan African countries, particularly, Ghana. However, understanding this relationship is important in promoting productivity and improving wellbeing, especially of women across Africa. The paper thus examines the determinants and implications of the changing land tenure regime on women cocoa farmers. Using Dormaa Central Municipality of the Bono Region of Ghana as a case study, household surveys and agency interviews were conducted. From the study, land tenure arrangements in the study communities have transformed from the ownership by the extended family to more individualised ownership through inheritance, gift, or purchase. Even though sharecropping presents a major opportunity for women to improve their land needs, the results indicate gender discrimination under the sharecropping arrangements as landowners prefer men to women. This is because the latter do not have the required resources to undertake commercially beneficial farming. It is also argued that though the emerging land commodification presents an opportunity for women to improve land access for cocoa farming, women are still disadvantaged as they lack the wherewithal to acquire land through purchase. In addition, the existing local customs and practices under the matrilineal system of inheritance are fluid and gendered; thus, hindering women's access to land for cocoa farming. The study calls for continuous engagement and advocacy on land tenure to improve channels of equitable land access for women and subsequently improve their economic fortunes in Ghana's cocoa sector.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 Elsevier LtdThis paper explores the dynamics of policy and legal reforms in Somaliland. It does so by scrutinising the work of a special commission established in 2009 to strengthen statutory institutions' capacity to address a growing problem of land-related conflicts in Hargeisa, much of which is now adjudicated by non-statutory institutions such as traditional elders or Islamic clerics. In addition to the stated government goal, the commission's establishment, as the paper shows, was part of a reform agenda in which the state seeks to reconcile contradictive demands placed on it by the society it governs and the community of nations it pursues to join. Through participant observation, key informant interviews, and investigation of court records, the paper, therefore, aims to reveal how the state uses ambiguity as a strategy to advance its reform agendas. The paper also demonstrates that the ineffective way urban land conflicts are adjudicated erodes public confidence in the state and reinforces sub-ethnic patriotism.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 Elsevier LtdSilvoarable is a type of agroforestry practice where a woody component is deliberately integrated with an arable crop as part of the understory. Silvoarable practices are generally associated with the delivery of more ecosystem services than monocultures in agricultural lands. Therefore, it is necessary to develop policies to foster silvoarable practices in the most climate-vulnerable areas such as the Mediterranean areas of Europe. This paper aims at analyzing the extent of silvoarable practices as well as the deployment and implementation of policies carried out in 27 Rural Development Programmes (Pillar II) within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy 2014–2020, in the Mediterranean areas of Europe, to understand how silvoarable practices are promoted and provide insights to the Mediterranean Member States to develop better policies for agroforestry adoption in Europe within the future Common Agricultural Policy 2021–2027 where payments will be based on results. The silvoarable agroforestry practices deliver enormous ecosystem services in the Mediterranean areas of Europe despite the reduced current extent that this sustainable land use system has. Silvoarable practices should be promoted by the Common Agricultural Policy considering the enhancement of the extension services activities but also the development of adequate supply and value chains within the bioeconomy strategy to fulfil the green deal strategy promoted by the European Commission.
查看更多>>摘要：? 2022 Elsevier LtdDensity and community enclosure are the most widely applied policy tools for residential environments. The effectiveness of these policies is often assessed by the social impacts imposed on local communities. A serious gap in the relationship between density and social outcomes is that present literature deals with internal and external density separately and ignores the role of community enclosure in social procedures. Recent studies have declared that to achieve the desired environmental quality, individuals’ perceptions of density should be considered. They have also highlighted that high perceived density predicts low social interactions and territoriality is a well-established mediator of this association. The present paper investigates the similarities and differences of the causal effect between perceived density and social interactions in gated and non-gated communities. A survey was distributed to a sample of 522 habitants residing in six neighborhoods. Presented moderated mediation models suggest that in both types of communities, territoriality mediates the effect of perceived density on social interactions. In non-gated communities residents who perceive a high level of interior crowding may experience the strengthened negative effects of high perceived density on social outcomes. Instead, in gated communities, when perceived interior crowding is high, a higher level of correlation exists between territoriality and social interactions. This finding supports the idea that the residents’ incapability to achieve the desired level of privacy encourages boundary-control behavior in shared spaces.
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