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Much of the current analysis on agricultural productivity is hampered by the lack of consistent, high quality data on soil health and how it is changing under past and current management. Historically, plot-level statistics derived from household surveys have relied on subjective farmer assessments of soil quality or, more recently, publicly available geospatial data. The Living Standards Measurement Study of the World Bank implemented a methodological study in Ethiopia, which resulted in an unprecedented data set encompassing a series of subjective indicators of soil quality as well as spectral soil analysis results on plot-specific soil samples for 1,677 households. The goals of the study, which was completed in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre and the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, were twofold: (1) evaluate the feasibility of integrating a soil survey into household socioeconomic data collection operations, and (2) evaluate local knowledge of farmers in assessing their soil quality. Although a costlier method than subjective assessment, the integration of spectral soil analysis in household surveys has potential for scale-up. In this study, the first large scale study of its kind, enumerators spent approximately 40 minutes per plot collecting soil samples, not a particularly prohibitive figure given the proper timeline and budget. The correlation between subjective indicators of soil quality and key soil properties, such as organic carbon, is weak at best. Evidence suggests that farmers are better able to distinguish between soil qualities in areas with greater variation in soil properties. Descriptive analysis shows that geospatial data, while positively correlated with laboratory results and offering significant improvements over subject assessment, fail to capture the level of variation observed on the ground. The results of this study give promise that soil spectroscopy could be introduced into household panel surveys in smallholder agricultural contexts, such as Ethiopia, as a rapid and cost-effective soil analysis technique with valuable outcomes. Reductions in uncertainties in assessing soil quality and, hence, improvements in smallholder agricultural statistics, enable better decision-making.

Household Survey --- Land Productivity --- Local Knowledge --- Soil Fertility --- Soil Spectroscopy

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This open access book is a compilation of case studies that provide useful knowledge and lessons that derive from on-the-ground activities and contribute to policy recommendations, focusing on the relevance of social-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) to “transformative change.” The concept of “transformative change” has been gaining more attention to deal with today’s environmental and development problems, whereas both policy and scientific communities have been increasingly calling for transformative change toward sustainable society. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has planned to start the so-called “assessment on transformative change” if approved by the IPBES plenary to be held in 2021. At present, the idea of transformative change, including its scope, methodologies, approaches and strategies, are yet to be clarified. By bringing together all of the different concerns and interests in the land/seascape, SEPLS approaches could provide practical and experience-based insights for understanding and gauging transformative change and identifying determinants of such change. This book explores how SEPLS management relates to the idea of transformative change to further the discussion of sustainable transitions in advancing sustainability science. The introductory chapter is followed by case study chapters offering real-world examples of transformative change as well as a synthesis chapter clarifying the relevance of the case study findings to policy and academic discussions. It will be of interest to scholars, policymakers and professionals in the fields related to sustainable development.

Sustainability --- Plant ecology --- Environmental management --- Conservation of the environment --- Ecological science, the Biosphere --- Physical geography & topography --- Sustainable Development --- Landscape Ecology --- Environmental Management --- Conservation Biology/Ecology --- Ecology --- Environmental Geography --- Conservation Biology --- Restoration Ecology --- Environmental Studies --- Biodiversity conservation --- Ecosystem services --- Community livelihood --- Land use --- Local knowledge --- Public participation --- Adaptation strategies --- Open Access --- Botany & plant sciences --- Environmental management, --- Development & environmental geography

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Understanding local knowledge has become a central academic project among those interested in Africa and developing countries. In South Africa, land reform is gathering pace and African people hold an increasing proportion of the livestock in the country. Animal health has become a central issue for rural development. Yet African veterinary medical knowledge remains largely unrecorded. This book seeks to fill that gap. It captures for the first time the diversity, as well as the limits, of a major sphere of local knowledge. Beinart and Brown argue that African approaches to animal health rest largely in environmental and nutritional explanations. They explore the widespread use of plants as well as biomedicines for healing. While rural populations remain concerned about supernatural threats, and many men think that women can harm their cattle, the authors challenge current ideas on the modernisation of witchcraft. They examine more ambient forms of supernatural danger expressed in little-known concepts such as 'mohato' and 'umkhondo'. They take the reader into the homesteads and kraals of rural black South Africans and engage with a key rural concern - vividly reporting the ideas of livestock owners. This is groundbreaking research which will have important implications for analyses of local knowledge more generally as well as effective state interventions and animal treatments in South Africa. William Beinart is Rhodes Professor of Race Relations, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford; Karen Brown is Research Associate at the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of Oxford. South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Swaziland: Wits University Press

Livestock --- Veterinary therapeutics --- Animals --- Domestic animals --- Therapeutics --- Veterinary medicine --- Animal husbandry --- Farm animals --- Live stock --- Stock (Animals) --- Stock and stock-breeding --- Agriculture --- Animal culture --- Animal industry --- Food animals --- Herders --- Range management --- Rangelands --- Diseases --- Treatment --- Traditional veterinary medicine --- Animal health --- Health --- Veterinary physiology --- Health behavior in animals --- Ethnoveterinary medicine --- Folk animal medicine --- Folk veterinary medicine --- Indigenous veterinary medicine --- Traditional animal medicine --- Traditional livestock medicine --- Traditional medicine --- South Africa. --- animal healing. --- biomedicines. --- environmental. --- livestock owners. --- local knowledge. --- mohato. --- nutritional explanations. --- plants. --- supernatural threats. --- umkhondo. --- witchcraft.

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Indigenous peoples, in Taiwan and worldwide, need to come up with various ways to cope with and adapt to rapid environmental change. This edited book, which is a follow-up to a conference entitled “Climate Change, Indigenous Resilience and Local Knowledge Systems: Cross-time and Cross-boundary Perspectives” organized by the Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, presents 16 papers which explore the various dimensions of Indigenous resilience to climate change and disasters in Taiwan and other regions in the world. This book explores the interrelated themes of climate change and Indigenous knowledge-based responses, and Indigenous (community) resilience with specific reference to Typhoon Morakot and beyond. The goals of this book are to discuss the international experience with Indigenous resilience; to review Indigenous knowledge for adaptation to climate change and disasters; and to generate a conversation among scholars, Indigenous peoples, and policy-makers to move the agenda forward. This book focusses on Indigenous resilience, the ways in which cultural factors such as knowledge and learning, along with the broader political ecology, determine how local and Indigenous people understand, deal with, and adapt to environmental change.

Research & information: general --- relocation --- post-disaster recovery --- cultural tourism --- build back better --- community-based tourism --- climate change --- country --- coupled human and natural systems --- Decoloniality --- geographical scale --- indigenous peoples --- ontological pluralism --- ontological and existential risk --- social and environmental justice --- policy narratives --- resilience --- climate finance --- rural development --- media --- participation --- development projects --- Pacific --- Malaita --- indigenous people --- social-ecological system --- Taiwan --- A'tolan --- Amis people --- freediving spearfishing --- CBNRM --- TEK --- Southeast Asia --- aggravation of climate change impact --- climatic change discourse --- local and indigenous knowledge systems --- adaptation --- barriers --- drought --- ecosystem products --- enablers --- indigenous and local knowledge systems --- semi-arid areas --- transformation --- Indigenous science --- Indigenous community --- self-determination --- sustainability --- Indigenous peoples --- traditional ecological knowledge --- decolonizing methodologies --- Acknowledgement of Country --- Indigenous geographies --- Tayal people --- situated resilience --- Pranata Mangsa --- local and scientific knowledge --- LINKS --- community resilience --- climate action --- bio-cultural diversity --- millet varieties --- indigenous and local knowledge --- indigenous food sovereignty --- climate change adaptation and mitigation --- local and Indigenous knowledge systems --- South Pacific Island States --- anthropology of climate change --- meta-ethnography --- global climate change --- bibliometric analysis --- Typhoon Morakot --- indigenous knowledge --- Tayal people in Taiwan --- Taiwanese indigenous studies --- cultural heritage --- heritagization --- ecotourism --- indigenous food culture --- weaving --- solidarity economy --- alternative development --- relocation --- post-disaster recovery --- cultural tourism --- build back better --- community-based tourism --- climate change --- country --- coupled human and natural systems --- Decoloniality --- geographical scale --- indigenous peoples --- ontological pluralism --- ontological and existential risk --- social and environmental justice --- policy narratives --- resilience --- climate finance --- rural development --- media --- participation --- development projects --- Pacific --- Malaita --- indigenous people --- social-ecological system --- Taiwan --- A'tolan --- Amis people --- freediving spearfishing --- CBNRM --- TEK --- Southeast Asia --- aggravation of climate change impact --- climatic change discourse --- local and indigenous knowledge systems --- adaptation --- barriers --- drought --- ecosystem products --- enablers --- indigenous and local knowledge systems --- semi-arid areas --- transformation --- Indigenous science --- Indigenous community --- self-determination --- sustainability --- Indigenous peoples --- traditional ecological knowledge --- decolonizing methodologies --- Acknowledgement of Country --- Indigenous geographies --- Tayal people --- situated resilience --- Pranata Mangsa --- local and scientific knowledge --- LINKS --- community resilience --- climate action --- bio-cultural diversity --- millet varieties --- indigenous and local knowledge --- indigenous food sovereignty --- climate change adaptation and mitigation --- local and Indigenous knowledge systems --- South Pacific Island States --- anthropology of climate change --- meta-ethnography --- global climate change --- bibliometric analysis --- Typhoon Morakot --- indigenous knowledge --- Tayal people in Taiwan --- Taiwanese indigenous studies --- cultural heritage --- heritagization --- ecotourism --- indigenous food culture --- weaving --- solidarity economy --- alternative development

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The severity of interconnected socio-economic and environmental impacts on landscapes and people across Africa are exacerbated as a result of land degradation, conflict, poor governance, competition for land and inequality, and exacerbated by climate change. In pursuing pathways towards a more resilient future, collaborative and multi-stakeholder governance and management of landscapes have been promoted by government agencies, NGOs and conservation organisations as a possible solution. However, there is no single way to achieve effective collaboration, and different landscape projects have experimented with different entry points and engagement processes. Grounded in partnerships amongst researchers, practitioners and development partners with expertise in landscape governance and management in Africa, this book describes and collates key lessons from practice for supporting more resilient and equitable landscapes.

Research & information: general --- Environmental economics --- landscape --- governance --- assessment --- inclusive --- sustainable --- multi-stakeholder --- climate and development --- forest conservation --- REDD --- sustainable land management --- project monitoring and evaluation --- mangroves --- academic intermediaries --- Kenya --- landscape governance --- sustainable energy --- urban informal settlements --- perceptions --- Agoro-Agu --- Mount Elgon --- inclusive decision-making --- dialogue --- SenseMaker® --- communities --- Uganda --- boundary-crossing --- integrated landscape management --- multi-stakeholder collaboration --- relational agency --- relationality --- social-ecological systems --- actors --- collaboration --- land degradation --- learning --- social capital --- Social Network Analysis --- transformative spaces --- landscapes --- biosphere reserves --- stakeholder participation --- conservation --- sustainable development --- management --- communication --- capacity building --- local collaboration --- governance regime --- local attitudes --- local perceptions --- protected area --- indigenous knowledge (IK) --- local/traditional ecological knowledge (LEK/TEK) --- interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary research --- indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) --- Gonarezhou --- sustainability --- community engagement --- Zimbabwe --- landscape --- governance --- assessment --- inclusive --- sustainable --- multi-stakeholder --- climate and development --- forest conservation --- REDD --- sustainable land management --- project monitoring and evaluation --- mangroves --- academic intermediaries --- Kenya --- landscape governance --- sustainable energy --- urban informal settlements --- perceptions --- Agoro-Agu --- Mount Elgon --- inclusive decision-making --- dialogue --- SenseMaker® --- communities --- Uganda --- boundary-crossing --- integrated landscape management --- multi-stakeholder collaboration --- relational agency --- relationality --- social-ecological systems --- actors --- collaboration --- land degradation --- learning --- social capital --- Social Network Analysis --- transformative spaces --- landscapes --- biosphere reserves --- stakeholder participation --- conservation --- sustainable development --- management --- communication --- capacity building --- local collaboration --- governance regime --- local attitudes --- local perceptions --- protected area --- indigenous knowledge (IK) --- local/traditional ecological knowledge (LEK/TEK) --- interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary research --- indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) --- Gonarezhou --- sustainability --- community engagement --- Zimbabwe