Social-Ecological Outcomes of Agricultural Intensification
(2018) Biennial Conference of the Political Ecology Network — Location: Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway (20.June.2018)
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- Abstract
- Sustainable land use intensification is now one of the main agendas shaping global development efforts and appears in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a key strategy for ending hunger (SDG2) and achieving sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems (SDG15). The high priority afforded to land use intensification efforts arises from the assumed likelihood of ‘win-win’ outcomes, i.e. benefits for human wellbeing occurring simultaneously with benefits for ecosystem services. But the conditions that support positive social-ecological outcomes remain poorly documented. To address this knowledge-gap, this paper provides the first review that synthesizes knowledge on how land use intensification affects both ecosystems and human wellbeing in low and middle-income countries. Overall, we find that land use intensification is rarely found to lead to win-win outcomes and often has a negative outcome for at least one of the underlying ecological conditions that may support sustained productivity over the long term. We identify three factors associated with outcomes: the type of intensification activity, the forest cover density, and the dimensions of wellbeing and ecosystems that are measured. We find that ‘sustainable’ land use intensification cannot be considered as a simple blueprint for achieving sustainable development.
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Coolsaet, B., & et al. (2018). Social-Ecological Outcomes of Agricultural Intensification. Biennial Conference of the Political Ecology Network, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/234563