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Until 2019, the Brazilian federal government employed a number of policy measures to fulfill the pledge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from land use change and agriculture. While its forest law enforcement strategy was partially successful in combating illegal deforestation, the effectiveness of positive incentive measures in agriculture has been less clear. The reason is that emissions reduction from market-based incentives such as the Brazilian Low-Carbon Agriculture Plan cannot be easily verified with current remote sensing monitoring approaches. Farmers have adopted a large variety of integrated land-use systems of crop, livestock and forestry with highly diverse per-hectare carbon balances. Their responses to policy incentives were largely driven by cost and benefit considerations at the farm level and not necessarily aligned with federal environmental objectives. This article analyzes climate-related land-use policies in the state of Mato Grosso, where highly mechanized soybean–cotton and soybean–maize cropping systems prevail. We employ agent-based bioeconomic simulation together with life-cycle assessment to explicitly capture the heterogeneity of farm-level costs, benefits of adoption, and greenhouse gas emissions. Our analysis confirms previous assessments but suggests a smaller farmer policy response when measured as increase in area of integrated systems. In terms of net carbon balances, our simulation results indicate that mitigation effects at the farm level depended heavily on the exact type of livestock and grazing system. The available data were insufficient to rule out even adverse effects. The Brazilian experience thus offers lessons for other land-rich countries that build their climate mitigation policies on economic incentives in agriculture.

Ethiopia is currently on the road to become a middle-income country by 2025, while not exceeding their 2010 GHG emissions. With 80% of the population engaged in agriculture, land-use management is essential to succeed in this emissions target. There have been several Ethiopian climate plans and policies over the last decade to promote a green development, and they have been condensed and streamlined over time. The progress has been hard to evaluate, mainly due to poor data availability, and where data is available the benchmarks and indicators have not been consistent over time, making it very difficult to get a fair picture of the situation. GHG emissions have decreased over time since 1990, but so has also the forest cover in the country, which acts as a carbon sink. The problem with this data is that the benchmark used in the Ethiopian evaluation is widely different from the FAO forest cover estimate. While Ethiopia reports great progress in their 2010 Growth National Plan (GTP) of 50 percent increased forest cover over a five-year period, FAO estimates the increase in the same period to close to two percent. Other than forest cover, crop production is another indicator that has available data over time, and here the outcome has been aligned with the goal set in the GTP. To reach the goal of reducing emissions down to the 2010 levels, financing seems to be the largest problem. There is a great deficit in the planned budget, and the projected increase in the private sector's contribution has not been realized as of yet. As a result, it seems unlikely that the goal will be met, but Ethiopia is still taking big strides to becoming a green economy and have achieved a lot in a very short time. So, even if it may not happen by 2025, Ethiopia is serving as a good example for both low- and high-income countries, in its stride towards green development by having aligned policies throughout all sectors of the government.

Environmental organizations play an important role in mainstream debates on nature and in shaping our environments. At a time when environmental NGOs are turning to questions of gender-equality and ethnic diversity, we analyze their possibilities to do so. We argue that attempts at ethnic and cultural diversity in environmental organizations cannot be understood without insight into the conceptualizations of nature and the environment that underpin thinking within the organization. Serious attempts at diversity entail confronting some of the core values on nature-cultures driving the organization as well as understanding the dimensions of power such as class, gender, and race that structure its practices. We study what nature means for one such organization, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, and the ways in which thinking about nature dictates organizational practice and sets the boundaries of their work with diversity in their projects on outdoor recreation. We base our analysis on official documents and interviews, analyze how ''diversity'' and ''gender-equality'' are represented in the material and reflect on the interconnections as well as the different trajectories taken by the two issues. Our study shows that the organization's understanding of nature is a central and yet undiscussed determinant of their work with diversity that closes down as much as it opens up the space for greater inclusion of minorities. We argue that for environmental organizations wanting to diversity membership, a discussion of what nature means for people and their relationships to each other and nature is vital to any such efforts.

Agricultural production is the main livelihood to a majority of the population and a lead contributor to economy in most sub-Saharan countries. In Kenya, agriculture accounts for 65% of the national exports and 70% of informal employment in rural Kenya. The study sought to establish key crops and livestock keeping in Kenya, constraints and opportunities along the value chain are critiqued and the role of institutions is discussed. In this report, a review of literature, desktop survey, was conducted. The study established that key crops grown in Kenya are maize, wheat, beans, tea, coffee and horticulture. While the main livestock kept in Kenya are cattle, sheep, goats, chicken and camels. The distribution of crops and livestock in Kenya is influenced by geography (agro-ecological zones) distance to market, and cultural diversity of the Kenyan people. In Kenya, the agricultural value chain is influenced by financial services, value chain suppliers and supporting services. However, the type of interaction in the value chain depends on the type of value chain at play. Its established that multi-national companies and government policy shape the agricultural value chain in Kenya. Agriculture and livestock keeping in Kenya is constraint by climate variability, inadequate agricultural extension and technology adoption, deterioration of land resource, poor infrastructure, limited farm-level resources and weak institutions to implement policies. The agriculture and livestock sectors can however look to improved skills in climate forecasting, devolution of the agriculture sector to county government and the growth of information communication technology in ameliorating these constraints. The Kenyan government has in the recent past re-organized the institutional framework through a variety of legislations. Financing of these institutions and implementation of polices should offer a spring board for up-scaled agricultural productivity and improved food security.

Small arable fields are beneficial with regard to ecosystem services, e.g., concerning biodiversity. By selecting appropriate crops and cultivation practices, arable fields can also be used as carbon sinks. The objectives of this study were to investigate what impact field conditions (e.g., field size and shape) and payments (subsidies) for environmental benefits have on profitability. A dynamic simulation model was used to simulate machine operations in fields of two different shapes and five different sizes (from 0.75 to 12.00 ha). A wide range of crops cultivated in Sweden were investigated (fallow land and plantation of Norway spruce were also included). A perimeter-based subsidy was suggested in order to conserve and promote biodiversity, and an area- and crop-based subsidy was suggested in order to promote sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC). The results showed that, without financial support and from a purely economic point of view, most field types investigated should be planted with Norway spruce. With currently available subsidies, e.g., EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) direct payments, hybrid aspen, poplar, fallow, and extensive ley cultivation are the most profitable crops. Perimeter-based subsidies favoured the net gain for small fields. As expected, a subsidy for sequestration of SOC favoured cultivation of specific SOC-sequestering crops such as ley, willow, and poplar. Our recommendation for future studies is to investigate a well-balanced combination of perimeter-based support and SOC sequestration support that benefits biodiversity and climate under different cultivation conditions.

This study was undertaken to investigate the local and regional variations in conditions for agriculture and food security by identifying the factors that are responsible for the disparity in agricultural performance in Tanzania. The study attempts to answer the following questions: What is the distribution of key crops grown and livestock kept in Tanzania? What are the current institutional arrangements and how are different stakeholders (local, county, national and international) involved in agenda setting for policy research? What has been the impact of policies, programs and strategies targeting local and regional variations in conditions for agriculture in Tanzania: what lessons have been learnt? What major gaps. Based on the desk review employed for purposes of this study from documents at both global and country levels, the study reveals that there is a difference in agricultural and productivity among regions. It was also found that considerable amount of variation in production and productivity exists among the regions. For the food crops, the total cropped area and productivity is higher in the southern highlands compared to the central and northwestern regions part of Tanzania. There has been a slow and unbalanced agricultural growth among regions in Tanzania over the years. The factors range from variation in climate and topography, farming system, social cultural, and enabling physical infrastructure and access to markets. It has been established that apart from agro ecological settings, the agricultural infrastructure across states is highly uneven in the country. Moreover, the disproportionate distributions of public and private investment in favour of agriculturally developed states are found to be responsible for wide disparity in agricultural performances in Tanzania which, in turn, is considered to be responsible for wide disparity in both agricultural production and the per capita domestic product across regions in Tanzania. There is a need for taking some immediate steps to put a check in this disparity and lop-sided growth of the regional economy and should be given special priority to bridge-up the immense development by the proper agricultural policy. Further to strengthen capacity building of various institutions to ensure efficient and effective in service delivery. Strengthen the capacity of the Ministry and local governments in overseeing implementation of agricultural activities.

Groundwater monitoring is recommended as a higher-tier option in the regulatory groundwater assessment of crop protection products in the European Union. However, to date little guidance has been provided on the study designs. The SETAC EMAG-Pest GW group (a mixture of regulatory, academic, and industry scientists) was created in 2015 to establish scientific recommendations for conducting such studies. This report provides recommendations for study designs and study procedures made by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Environmental Monitoring Advisory Group on Pesticides (EMAG-Pest). Because of the need to assess the vulnerability to leaching in both site selection and extrapolating study results, information on assessing vulnerability to leaching is also a major topic in this report. The design of groundwater monitoring studies must consider to which groundwater the groundwater quality standard is applicable and the associated spatial and temporal aspects of its application, the objective of the study, the properties of the active substance and its metabolites, and site characteristics. This limits the applicability of standardised study designs. The effect of the choice of groundwater to which the water quality guideline is applied on study design is illustrated and examples of actual study designs are presented.

This research combined global climate, crop and economic models to examine the economic impact of climate change-induced loss of agricultural productivity in Pakistan. Previous studies conducted systematic model inter-comparisons, but results varied widely due to differences in model approaches, research scenarios and input data. This paper extends that analysis in the case of Pakistan by taking yield decline output of the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) for CERES-Wheat, CERES-Rice and Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) crop models as an input in the global economic model to evaluate the economic effects of climate change-induced loss of crop production by 2050. Results showed that climate change-induced loss of wheat and rice crop production by 2050 is 19.5 billion dollars on Pakistan's Real Gross Domestic Product coupled with an increase in commodity prices followed by a notable decrease in domestic private consumption. However, the decline in the crops' production not only affects the economic agents involved in the agriculture sector of the country, but it also has a multiplier effect on industrial and business sectors. A huge rise in commodity prices will create a great challenge for the livelihood of the whole country, especially for urban households. It is recommended that the government should have a sound agricultural policy that can play a role in influencing its ability to adapt successfully to climate change as adaption is necessary for high production and net returns of the farm output.

Since the mid-1980s commercial shrimp-farming has expanded exponentially in coastal Bangladesh, with a focus on the south-western districts of Khulna, Satkhira, and Bagerhaat. Majority of these farms cultivate saline-water shrimps while some also cultivate fresh-water prawns. These products have come to be known as 'white gold' in the popular discourse because of their high profitability and capacity to bring in foreign exchange. The shrimp sector has been highly promoted by both the national government and the international lending agencies. It constitutes one of the largest exports from Bangladesh, alongside garments and textiles. However, since the early 1990s there have also been recurrent concerns regarding the environmental and socio-economic impacts of this large-scale commercial shrimp-farming. While on one hand the sector has undoubtedly generated high incomes for a certain segment of shrimp-farmers, it has also in parallel led to decreasing mangrove cover, loss of biodiversity, increasing soil-salinity, and disruptions in the agricultural resource-dependent traditional way of life. This study provides a synthesis of the existing literature surrounding these themes. It further attempts to highlight the opportunities for policy interventions that can be beneficial for the core stakeholders of the AgriFoSe 2030 project i.e. smallholders and women farmers.

The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the process of stakeholder participation in greywater (GW) management in the Badia of Jordan. The work was carried out as a part of a project entitled Integrated Wastewater Management Policies and Technologies in Marginal Communities in Jordan, described more fully in Chapter 4. The objectives of the project were to improve the quality of life and well-being for rural Jordanians, strategically support GW use and improve hygienic conditions. The stakeholders participating in GW management included local people, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), governmental authorities and scientists and experts from universities as well as research institutions. Local people were involved in different capacity-building programs, including technical field visits, a participatory rapid (or rural) appraisal (PRA) training course and awareness campaigns. Local people were also involved in data collection, community selection, GW quality and quantity assessment, treatment technology, construction and operation. Experts and governmental authorities participated in treatment technology selection and design. The study revealed that combining the strengths of different stakeholders made up for the scarce learning resources and human and financial resources that are needed to develop GW treatment technology for the Badia region. It was concluded that incorporation of inputs from different stakeholders enhanced the quality, ownership and sustainability of the project.

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a common problem for many farming communities around protected areas like parks, reserves and forests all around the world. In Kenya where most farming occurs at smallholder levels, HWC:s could be highly significant as it may lead to a complete loss of crops and livestock. Such cases have previously been experienced by smallholder farming communities around Mt. Kenya national park/natural forest, but many have gone unreported. To minimise these conflicts, the government of Kenya, in collaboration with the Rhino Ark Foundation have constructed an electric fence around the forest. The main aim of this study was to collate and document experiences of crop raiding by wildlife on small holder farms in Embu County, Kenya that are adjacent to the forest. It also aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the electric wildlife fence along the forest line through Embu County. To achieve this, questionnaires were administered to 181 small holder farmers living and farming within 5 km of the electric fence on the approximately 60 km long forest line. The questionnaires sought to gather information on the wildlife species causing damages, the magnitude of damage suffered by the farmers on the crops and livestock before and after the construction of the fence, the interventions they have in place to prevent such damage and other suggestions to prevent wildlife raids. Wildlife cameras were also used to track wildlife activity at night time. A total of 169 questionnaires were retrieved and 455 pictures downloaded from the cameras. Results show that the percentage of crops destroyed by wildlife was significantly higher in the year before the wildlife fence was constructed in 2016 compared to the period after the fence (2016-19). Currently the naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) and the Kenyan African (Tachyoryctes ibeanus) were reported as the most frequent pests on crops after the fence construction. Elephants were the most severe crop raiders before the fence construction, but their raiding ceased completely after the fence installation. The white tailed mongoose (Ichneumia albicauda) and eagles (Accipitridae family) were the most frequently reported raiders on livestock. Maize, macadamia and bananas were the most commonly targeted crops while chickens were the most targeted livestock. Over 90% of the farmers indicated that the fence significantly contributed to a reduction of HWC:s. However, they also suggested additional fencing for both crops and livestock, as well as trapping and poisoning of raiders like moles and mongooses that were responsible for most of the crop damage and livestock attacks. This study recommends that farmers devise innovative ways of dealing with the threat of small animals. These may include aggressive fencing and growing crops and keeping livestock that are not targeted by small animals. It is also recommends that the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) develop innovative ways of compensating affected farmers and prevent further loss. The KWS may also train farmers on procedures to follow in reporting cases of wildlife invasion and on food choices of various wildlife species inhabiting the forest so that they avoid growing crops or keeping livestock that are prime targets for wildlife.

To overcome the challenges caused by climate change, and to improve food security, the Ethiopian government, together with local communities, have made large efforts by constructing rainwater harvesting techniques (RWHTs) such as household ponds, cisterns, check dams and roof water harvesting at community and household level. This study performed a literature review to synthesize research on how these efforts have had positive effects on food security in communities and household in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. The result of the review indicates that the present RWHTs in the region contribute to increased crop productivity, crop diversity, livestock productivity, livestock feed, and reduced distance and time to water points. Despite the advantages RWHTs provide, their expansion to a larger region are constrained by many factors; initial investment costs, material availability and quality, risk of disease such as malaria, water loss to evaporation, limited technical design capacity and irrigation calendar skills. This study concludes that if implemented successfully, and in accordance with local climate and geographic conditions, rainwater harvesting can serve as a powerful tool to increase reliable access to water so as to respond to the impacts of climate change and increase food and nutrition security for poor households.

The following report reviews the literature on land tenure systems from a gender perspective in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa and three countries in South Asia that are experiencing falling farm sizes and rising population pressure on land. The countries in question are Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Madagascar, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. We use data from the FAOs Gender and Land Rights Database and review the academic literature on land tenure systems and land reforms from a gender perspective. There is ample evidence of discrimination against women both in inheritance law as well as everyday practices of ownership, control, and access to land. Even in cases where progressive reforms have been implemented, women's right to land remains fettered to their relationship with male relatives. Gender norms pertaining to marriage, and social beliefs and values derived from patriarchal mindsets pose structural barriers to women's landownership. The presence of personal law codes (specific to each religious community in the case of South Asia) and the upholding in practice of customary law in the case of most of the African countries covered by the study, are the key structural barriers to equal inheritance rights and/or land tenure rights for women. However, this is a politically charged issue and cannot be approached from a purely policy-driven perspective. Therefore, we must turn our attention to the other structural barriers, within society and everyday practice.

Book available for download as pdf-files for chapters. Search for ISBN 978-91-86189-11-2 to list them all. See also Table of contents below: CONTENTS Series Preface Christine Jakobsson, Leif Norrgren, Ingrid Karlsson, and Jeffrey Levengood Introduction Ingrid Karlsson, Lars Rydén and Kalev Sepp 1 Landscape and Landscape History Arvo Iital 2 Landscape Functions and Ecosystem Services Kalev Sepp 3 Rural Development in the Belarusian Polesie Area Valentin Yatsukhno 4 The Baltic Waterscape - Lakes, Wetlands, Rivers and the Sea Lars Rydén 5 Mountains and Tundra – Landscapes of Beauty and Wilderness Lars Rydén 6 History of Land Use in the Great Lakes Region Gregory McIsaac 7 From Traditional to Modern Rural Society Diana Mincyte 8 Demographic Development in the Baltic Sea Region Marina Thorborg 9 Economic Development and Work Opportunities in Rural BSR Marina Thorborg 10 Agro- and Rural Tourism in the Baltic Sea Region – A Growing Sector Elena Kropinova 11 Urbanisation and Urban-Rural Cooperation Per G Berg and Lars Rydén 12 Living in the Baltic Waterscape Lars Rydén 13 Sustainable Forestry Ingrid Karlsson 14 Forestry in the European Union Part of the Baltic Sea Region Ingrid Karlsson 15 Forests and Forestry in three Eastern European Countries Marine Elbakidze, Per Angelstam and Valery Tikhomirov 16 Energy Production in the Rural Landscape Lars Rydén 17 Biomass Production in Energy Forests – Short Rotation Plantations Józef Mosiej, Agnieszka Karczmarczyk, Katarzyna Wyporska and Aleh Rodzkin 18 Spatial Planning and Management Kristina L Nilsson and Lars Rydén 19 A Rural Country in Transition – Alternatives for Lithuania Jonas Jasaitis and Ingrid Karlsson 20 Landscape and Maintenance of Water Resources Józef Mosiej, Agnieszka Karczmarczyk and Katarzyna Wyporska 21 Assessment of Sustainable Land Use Alexander Fehér and Michelle Wander 22 Policy and Policy Instruments Karin Hilmer Pedersen and Lars Rydén 23 Policy of Rural Development in Poland Józef Mosiej 24 Russian Land Use – Environmental Legislation Eugene Krasnov, Marja Molchanova and Isa Zeinalov 25 Economic Instruments – Three Interlinkages Between Ecology and Economics Hans Aage 26 Voluntary Instruments and Sustainable Consumption Ingrid Karlsson and Motaher Hossain

Demand for raw materials and food has long been rewarding intensive production oriented land uses, which has led to various environmental and social issues. Policies attempting to reconcile the interests and claims of different groups in society emerge from political process. Scientific research can support policy making by providing factual information and by generating and analyzing policy options. This thesis is an investigation of the prerequisites and a further development of methodologies and tools for scientific policy support concerning Non-industrial Private (NIP) land use and forest management in Sweden. Three characteristics of NIP (or small-scale, family) landownership are at the focus of the thesis: (i) spatial constraints (estate size) (Paper I), (ii) landowner behavior (Papers I, II and IV), and (iii) spatially explicit information on forest attributes and land use (Papers II and III). Paper I assesses hypothetical scenarios of spatially targeted deciduous forest allocation strategies in the context of small scale forest ownership in southern Sweden. The study demonstrates that in order to avoid a priori unattainable policy goals, theoretical gains from spatial targeting need to be considered against the background of required landowners' participation. Paper II analyses agricultural land-use change in Kronoberg County during 2000's. The study shows that a significant portion of the originally reported pastures' area has been replaced by land previously reported in other categories. Furthermore, the study indicates an overall extensification of grassland utilization in the county. Paper III presents a method for improved classification and accuracy assessment of ad-hoc categorical maps based on continuous-scale remote sensing estimates of forest variables. The method is applied in mapping deciduous dominated forests from an existing spatial dataset. Paper IV deals with a mixed, qualitative-quantitative approach to forest policy scenario construction. The paper proposes facilitating inferences of forest management configurations from assumed external factors by using a structured representation of forest management "behavioral matrix". An application example from a regional case study is provided.