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Links between poverty and land degradation

Links between poverty and land degradation. Hannah Arpke ORD. Introduction. Poverty defined differently by local people and outsiders e.g. range from having “vices” to being ill Socio-cultural and traditional/ religious context has to be taken into account

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Links between poverty and land degradation

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  1. Links between poverty and land degradation Hannah Arpke ORD

  2. Introduction • Poverty defined differently by local people and outsiders • e.g. range from having “vices” to being ill • Socio-cultural and traditional/ religious context has to be taken into account • Poverty line established at below $2/day/person

  3. Introduction • Absolute poverty lies below $1/day/person • Based on economic indicators such as income/head (UNDP, 2000) • Most poor people found in Sub-Saharan South Asia (50% of world’s poor), Africa (19%), East Asia (15%) and Latin America (10%) (Pinstrupp-Andersen & Pandya-Loch, 1994; UNDP, 1999)

  4. Introduction • Land degradation involves soil erosion, loss of vegetation cover, loss of productivity and income/resource base, desertification • Not limited to arid/tropical areas or less-developed countries • China lost 4 mill. ha productive land between 1987 and 1992 due to forest and pasture expansion and urbanisation which caused erosion, salinity, water-logging etc., constituting 84% of all causes of degradation (Gardner, 1996)

  5. Introduction • 38% of cultivated area worldwide damaged by agricultural mismanagement (1990) • e.g. Iraq: 94% of total land degraded by salinity caused by inadequate drainage of inherently salty soils • Most affected: • Central America (74%), Africa (65%), Asia (38%)

  6. Manifestations • Land degradation: • Loss of genetic resources • Loss of floral & faunal (agro-) biodiversity • Destabilised ecosystems • Loss of forests • Loss or damage of production base – soil, water sources • Changed micro-climate • Desertification (Netting, 1993; Redcliff & Sage,1994; Shidiwah, 1996, Greenland et al.,1998;)

  7. Manifestations • Poverty: • Lack of assets/capital • Natural • Human/ Social • Physical • Power/ Influence/ Opportunities • Knowledge • Education • Malnutrition • High (infant) mortality

  8. Causes (a simplistic view…) • Land degradation • Malthusian view of population increase driving the need for food, fuel, industry, building sites and material • Encroachment on marginal/fragile land • Intensified use/exploitation of all resources • Coupled with lack of knowledge causes mismanagement of resources • N.B. Boserup (Redcliff &Sage, 1994) argues that population increase drives agricultural and technological advancement

  9. Causes (a simplistic view) • Poverty: • Same as manifestations? • Creating a feedback loop between manifestation that become causes? • Redcliff and Sage (1994) also argue that not only direct, local factors play a role, the whole global situation with increased levels of consumption in richer countries drives poverty-land degradation dynamic

  10. Complex issues… • Causes, consequences, manifestations and indicators of both poverty and land degradation are complex and intricately linked • “People in degraded areas are both victims and agents of destruction” (Conacher, 1995) • “Erosion and poverty interact in a destructive cycle” (Gardner, 1996) • “Land degradation can undermine and frustrate economic development, while low levels of economic development can in turn have a strong causal impact on indicators of land degradation” (Blaikie & Brookfield, 1987)

  11. “Vicious” cycle N.B. where does population increase fit in this diagram? Complex issues…

  12. Complex issues… • Examine underlying issues such as tenure/access rights, regional agricultural markets, socio-cultural aspects etc. (Leach & Mearns, 1996) • Most vulnerable areas are those where the (causal) links can be seen most clearly, e.g. arid lands • 35% of global land is vulnerable to erosion, yet supports 1/5 of world’s population • 90% of poor in developing countries rely on biomass from forests for fuel (Kidd & Pimentel, 1992)

  13. Cautions • Have to be cautious not to see all change as degradation • e.g. savanna environments supporting pastoralist herds are inherently unbalanced, where ecosystem dynamics are governed by climate and fire (Mortimore, 1998) • Poor farmers cannot be blamed for trying to survive, their poverty is limiting their ability to manage land adequately and seek alternatives • Therefore, individual cases have to be investigated in their own right

  14. Example cases: • Tunisia: • Land degradation caused by degradation of soil and vegetation cover as a result of fuel-wood overharvesting, overgrazing and trampling, linked with exacerbating factors such as arid climate • Overuse a consequence of increased human population and hence animal population, coupled with the heavy socio-cultural reliance on livestock (Swearingen & Bencherifa, 1996)

  15. Example cases: • Ethiopia • Millenia of subsistence agriculture on marginal, steep slopes • Increased pressure on agriculture due to population growth • Lack of resources to upgrade agricultural practices to aid soil conservation • Civil strife and lack of opportunities for alternative income generation • Increased poverty, thus increased reliance on natural resource base etc. a cycle is created

  16. Example cases • Himalaya region • Need for fuel-wood, timber, settlement areas etc. • Increased need due to population increase but also rapid development toward industrialisation and export markets (policy failures) • Deforestation on steep slopes • Soil exposed to leaching, erosion, decreased productivity (Gardner, 1996)

  17. Example cases • Yemen: • Human population increase/encroachment • Overexploitation of vegetation cover • Overgrazing and low rainfall • Deforestation for fuelwood and timber • Overcultivation • General fragile environment • Mis-use of water resources • Urbanisation • Leading to desertification which is seen as equal to degradation (Shidiwah, 1996)

  18. Example cases • Former USSR • 1954-1962 “Virgin Lands Campaign” to increase food and raw material production • Disregard for ecosystem interactions, soil and climatic conditions • Misuse of machinery and agrochemicals • This is an example of aggressive investment of high sums of money into forcing increased profit (i.e. poverty not a direct cause) (Gardner, 1996)

  19. Example cases • USA-Dustbowl • Farmers wealthy enough to invest in inputs for extensive cotton production • Again complete disregard for natural processes and soil and climatic conditions • Aggressive use of heavy machinery and agrochemicals • Soil structure destroyed - dusty, easily eroded fields left behind (Gardner, 1996)

  20. Against generalisations: • Poor people can be activists against land degradation as they recognise its value as their sole livelihood base (Stocking & Morse, 1995; Broad, 1994)) • Poor are not ignorant, short-sighted squatters • Not causers but agebts forced by external circumstances (Broad, 1994) • Arguing against Brundtlands assertion that “poor are the major cause and effect of global environmental problems”

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