The concept of commoning is continuing to gain scholarly interest, with multiple definitions and ... more The concept of commoning is continuing to gain scholarly interest, with multiple definitions and interpretations across different research communities. In this article, we define commoning as the actions by groups with shared interests towards creating shared social and relational processes as the basis of governance strategy. Perhaps it can be more simply defined as collective ways of relating and governing. This article addresses two specific gaps in the commoning literature: (1) to bridge disparate strands of literature on commoning by briefly reviewing each and arguing for integration through epistemic pluralism, and (2) to explicitly examine how power is manifest in commoning processes by bringing in a framework on power (i.e., power over, power with, power to, power within) to understand the links between power and commoning governance processes in two case studies. The two cases are tourism governance on Gili Trawangan, Indonesia and aquatic food production systems in Bulacan, Philippines. We preface this analysis with the argument that power is an integral part of the commoning concept, but that it has yet to be analytically integrated to applications of the broader institutional analysis and development framework or within the networks of action situations approach. We argue that by making explicit how an analysis of power can be coupled to a network of action situations analysis in a qualitative way, we are advancing a key feature of the commoning concept, which we introduce as rooted in epistemic and analytical pluralism in the analysis of governance. In the discussion, we expand on how each case study reveals each of the four power dynamics, and how they improve the understanding of commoning as a pluralistic and perhaps bridging analytical concept.
The population–environment–food nexus is a sustainability challenge for the Global South, and for... more The population–environment–food nexus is a sustainability challenge for the Global South, and for Africa in particular, where rapid human population growth typically overlaps with high levels of food insecurity and environmental degradation. In this context, it is important to understand the reasons driving high fertility in these regions. Here, we examined possible determinants of women’s fertility preferences in rural southwestern Ethiopia. Using a survey tool (n = 120), we assessed women’s perceptions of four key environmental stressors, namely food insecurity, environmental degradation, human population growth, and land scarcity. Through statistical modelling we tested whether there was a relationship between perceptions of future trends in these stressors and women’s fertility preferences; expressed as their desired number of children and use of family planning methods. This analysis was complemented by a qualitative content analysis of the survey’s open-ended questions, to con...
Journal of Environmental Science and Management, 2013
The sustainability of domestic water supply from the Layawan Watershed in Oroquieta City critical... more The sustainability of domestic water supply from the Layawan Watershed in Oroquieta City critically depend onpast and present conservation activities and the availability of funds from stakeholders such as households, communities, non-government organizations, private entities and government agencies. This study determined the willingness to pay (WTP) particularly of households in Oroquieta City to finance conservation projects in Layawan Watershed to ensure the sustainability of domestic water supply. A household survey of randomly selected 278 respondents was conducted using the dichotomous choice referendum format. The Heckman’s two-stage analysis for the parametric estimation of mean WTP yielded the values of PhP 4.00, PhP 6.00 and PhP 7.00 per month for mandatory, voluntary and pooled data sets, respectively. The households are willing to contribute funds for conserving Layawan Watershed as supported by the total WTP of Oroquieta City’s population that ranges from PhP 117,845.0...
Ensuring food security and halting biodiversity decline are two of the most urgent, interconnecte... more Ensuring food security and halting biodiversity decline are two of the most urgent, interconnected challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. Drawing on both the natural and social sciences, we implemented an interdisciplinary research agenda to address these challenges.<br> This book summarises the findings of five years of research in southwestern Ethiopia. It covers diverse topics, from biodiversity conservation to ecosystem services, livelihoods, social equity, population growth and governance. It concludes with an outlook of what the future may hold for southwestern Ethiopia. Each chapter in the book is based on peer-reviewed empirical science, begins with a summary of key messages, and concludes with a series of recommendations for policy and practice. The book seeks to inspire and inform policymakers, scientists and other stakeholders in Ethiopia and elsewhere, aiming to provide scientifically grounded, tangible insights that can help to harmonise biodiversity cons...
Livelihoods are activities and practices in which social and environmental factors interlink, and... more Livelihoods are activities and practices in which social and environmental factors interlink, and they play a key role in achieving human well-being and environmental conservation. Livelihood analyses are therefore important to social-ecological systems research. With a few exceptions, however, the concept of agency has been largely missing in research applying the social-ecological systems approach. This is an important gap to address, because humans are not passive victims of broader sociopolitical trends and environmental changes, but rather play causative roles that shape history. This paper presents a conceptual framework that enables the explicit integration of agency into livelihood analyses, and is useful for examining the extent to which livelihoods enable people to be agents of their own well-being, and stewards of their environment. The framework has four pillars of agency: preconditions (referring to capital assets and resources, or CARs); processes (feedbacks and dynamics); power (the social and political fabrics, and relations in which livelihoods are embedded); and possibilities (the extent to which a present livelihood expands into future options, and builds the ability to act on options). The framework is then applied to a case study analyzing smallholder farming livelihoods and food security in southwest Ethiopia. The case study is based on empirical work involving quantitative survey, in-depth interviews, and focus-group discussions. This paper demonstrates the applicability of the framework to identifying agency constraints in smallholder farming, and helps determine areas where agency can be further strengthened. Beyond the case study, the framework may also be applied in other contexts and to other livelihood types. Its application can strengthen the contribution of livelihood analysis to social-ecological systems research by providing a way to operationalize and foreground agency.
Flooding has increased in frequency in various parts of the country, causing damage to thousands ... more Flooding has increased in frequency in various parts of the country, causing damage to thousands of households every year. It directly affects communities through damage to livelihood and properties, loss of earning, and health hazards. Households dependent on agriculture for livelihood are particularly vulnerable because of the negative impact of flooding to productivity. Damage assessments following flood events are regularly done to determine extent of loss and to identify critical areas for intervention. However, these are often macroscale assessments, which do not necessarily generate information that could be useful for policymaking. At the municipal level, planning for disaster mitigation and adaptation strategies are devolved and should be operationalized. This study sought to determine microscale damage estimates of the largest flood event in the history of Jabonga, in Agusan del Norte, in southern Philippines. Jabonga is a lakeside municipality adjacent to Lake Mainit, the...
Aquaculture is the most rapidly growing food production sector globally. In certain coastal socia... more Aquaculture is the most rapidly growing food production sector globally. In certain coastal social-ecological systems, this has resulted in significant changes and sustainability challenges. In particular, coastal environments which used to support only capture fisheries are becoming sites for brackish water aquaculture production; this impacts the sustainability of aquatic food production. Sustainability challenges associated with aquaculture expansion and intensification necessitate a contextually rooted understanding of institutions and institutional changes which can be used as an informed basis for leveraging institutions to achieve desirable sustainability outcomes in the aquatic food sector. This research used a qualitative empirical case study involving in-depth interviews, participant observation, and analysis of institutional documents in the region of Central Luzon, Philippines. It applied the inter-institutional systems concept which considers multiple institutions with ...
This study sought to determine microscale damage estimates of the largest flood event in the hist... more This study sought to determine microscale damage estimates of the largest flood event in the history of the municipality of Jabonga in the province of Agusan del Norte. Jabonga is a lakeside municipality adjacent to Lake Mainit, the fourth largest lake in the Philippines. The study sought to on determine flood-prone areas in the municipality, characterize the flood event that occurred in the site from December 2010 to March 2011, estimate actual and potential damage for different flood scenarios, and determine variables that are significantly related to flood vulnerability and flood damage. A total of 870 households were surveyed. In the flood hazard zone, livelihood areas, particularly farms, are inundated for a month on average. Some houses are also inundated for about the same duration. Inundation time at the municipality scale is shorter. Results showed that the municipality is vulnerable, with about 90 percent of the damage to livelihood coming from the agriculture sector. Dama...
The Covid-19 pandemic is a global shock that is significantly affecting coastal social-ecological... more The Covid-19 pandemic is a global shock that is significantly affecting coastal social-ecological systems (SES) in different parts of the world. Its widespread impacts have unravelled vulnerabilities in many aspects of society, including food systems. Our study investigated the impacts of a lockdown associated with the pandemic in the province of Bulacan, in the region of Central Luzon, Philippines, where aquaculture and capture fisheries are important and interconnected sectors. In particular, we focused on impacts related to production and market. We considered people’s coping strategies and the factors that enabled such strategies. Our investigation adopted a case study approach and drew on qualitative data analysed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed differentiated mechanisms through which aquaculture and capture fisheries production were impacted. Both were strongly affected by market disruptions but through slightly different ways. In effect, the lockdown provided...
Abstract Ecosystem services are essential to human well-being. Different mechanisms modify people... more Abstract Ecosystem services are essential to human well-being. Different mechanisms modify people’s access to the benefits from ecosystem services, but who benefits from which services, and the underlying factors that shape such variability, often remain unclear. To address this, we surveyed current and past ecosystem service flows from forest and farmland into rural Ethiopian households. After disaggregating beneficiary groups, we explored current and past mechanisms that impeded or facilitated their access. We found five groups of current ecosystem service beneficiaries that received varying degrees of service flows from forest and farmland. Important access barriers were economic problems and shortage of land, particularly for worse-off households, and wildlife damage and labour shortage. Over time, flows from forest and those directly benefiting human well-being (e.g. food, energy) were perceived to have declined, especially for worse-off groups. In contrast, access to emerging market-oriented services with indirect benefits (such as cash crops) increased, but especially so for better-off groups who capitalised on market opportunities and agricultural intensification. Forest cover loss and protection caused decreased access across groups. Identifying group-specific access problems and trajectories, removing economic, land- and labour-related barriers, and addressing environmental challenges, are important to facilitate equitable sharing of the benefits of rural ecosystems.
Despite an increasing understanding of the issue of marine pollution, humanity continues on a lar... more Despite an increasing understanding of the issue of marine pollution, humanity continues on a largely unsustainable trajectory. This study aimed to identify and classify the range of scientific studies and interventions to address coastal and marine pollution. We reviewed 2417 scientific papers published between 2000 and 2018, 741 of which we analysed in depth. To classify pollution interventions, we applied the systems-oriented concept of leverage points, which focuses on places to intervene in complex systems to bring about systemic change. We found that pollution is largely studied as a technical problem and fewer studies engage with pollution as a systemic social-ecological issue. While recognising the importance of technical solutions, we highlight the need to focus on under-researched areas pertaining to the deeper drivers of pollution (e.g. institutions, values) which are needed to fundamentally alter system trajectories.
We studied food security and biodiversity conservation from a social-ecological perspective in so... more We studied food security and biodiversity conservation from a social-ecological perspective in southwestern Ethiopia. Specialist tree, bird, and mammal species required large, undisturbed forest, supporting the notion of 'land sparing' for conservation. However, our findings also suggest that forest areas should be embedded within a multifunctional landscape matrix (i.e. 'land sharing'), because farmland also supported many species and ecosystem services and was the basis of diversified livelihoods. Diversified livelihoods improved smallholder food security, while lack of access to capital assets and crop raiding by wild forest animals negatively influenced food security. Food and biodiversity governance lacked coordination and was strongly hierarchical, with relatively few stakeholders being highly powerful. Our study shows that issues of livelihoods, access to resources, governance and equity are central when resolving challenges around food security and biodiversity. A multi-facetted, socialecological approach is better able to capture such complexity than the conventional, twodimensional land sparing versus sharing framework.
Global discourses on the governance of food security span competing approaches. For example, a ne... more Global discourses on the governance of food security span competing approaches. For example, a neoliberal approach advocates commercialized, industrial agriculture, while food sovereignty and resilience are part of an alternative discourse to food security that prioritizes locally-based agroecological food production. Understanding how global discourses play out locally and how they impact the environment and biodiversity is important to identify appropriate pathways towards sustainability. In addition to their effects on food security, different approaches could reinforce or impede the success of biodiversity conservation because of the strong interdependence of food security and ecosystems. We applied the Q-methodology to examine alternative approaches to food security and biodiversity conservation pursued by 50 stakeholders from local to national levels in southwestern Ethiopia. We identified four distinct approaches, focusing on (1) smallholder commercialization, (2) agroecology and resilience, (3) local economy and equity, and (4) market liberalization. All approaches prioritized smallholders, but perspectives on how to achieve food security varied. Agricultural intensification, commercialization, and profit were widely considered important, while support for agroecology and resilience was largely restricted to non-government organizations. With the exception of supporters of the agroecology and resilience approach, biodiversity conservation was considered as a secondary goal. We conclude it is important to acknowledge plurality of food security approaches because local conditions are characterized by a multiplicity of stakeholder interests, and because food security is a complex problem that requires a multidimensional approach. However, major contradictions among existing approaches need to be reconciled, and the agroecology and resilience approach should be strengthened to ensure the sustainable achievement of food security and biodiversity conservation.
We investigated how smallholder farming households in southwestern Ethiopia coped with challenges... more We investigated how smallholder farming households in southwestern Ethiopia coped with challenges related to lack in capital assets and food shortage. We focused on interactions between capital assets using, in particular, capital asset substitution as an analytical lens to classify and unpack the interactions. The most commonly mentioned challenges were related to natural and economic capitals, and these frequently caused seasonal food shortages. Households responded to the lack in capital assets or food through processes that drew on more readily available capital assets. Common ways in which households coped involved drawing on social and human capitals (i.e. increasing labor input) to address lack in other types of capital assets and lack in food. These types of asset substitution tended to facilitate the maintenance of a household's capital asset base. In contrast, some households liquidated physical and economic capital assets to cope, but these types of substitution tended to erode their capital asset base. In sum, our findings highlight the natural environment as well as social and human capitals as foundational to smallholder livelihoods and food security. In practical terms, the study provides information on coping strategies that should be avoided or modified to prevent capital asset erosion, and highlights those that should be supported and strengthened to enable the maintenance (and eventual growth) of households' capital assets. Conceptually, the study contributes to livelihoods research by highlighting the usefulness of capital asset substitution for investigating interactions between different capital assets.
How transformative processes could be facilitated to improve gender equality and consequently, hu... more How transformative processes could be facilitated to improve gender equality and consequently, human well-being, is a key question for moving towards a just and sustainable future. Focusing on southwestern Ethiopia where significant changes in formal institutions related to gender have occurred, we applied the concept of systemic leverage points. We show that changes in formal structures facilitated changes in perceived visible gender gaps, such as increased participation of women in public activities. These, in turn, played an enabling role for changes in community norms, and (to a lesser degree) triggered reconsideration of perceptions about women's capacities. Both women and men perceived more equal gender relations as being associated with better well-being at the household level. Our results highlight the important role of interactions between leverage points for gender equality, suggesting important insights can be gained by studying interactions, compared to when shallow (e.g., visible gaps) or deeper leverage points (e.g., social norms) are analyzed in isolation. Our study also demonstrated the general suitability of a leverage-points perspective in gender research, including as an analytical frame to complement gender transformative approaches.
Households combine capital assets in a process involving human agency and resourcefulness to cons... more Households combine capital assets in a process involving human agency and resourcefulness to construct livelihood strategies and generate well-being outcomes. Here, we (1) characterized types of livelihood strategies; (2) determined how different capital assets are associated with different livelihood strategies; and (3) determined how livelihood strategies differed in food security outcomes. We conducted a survey in southwestern Ethiopia and used principal component and cluster analyses. Five types of livelihood strategies, which differed mainly in food and cash crops comprising the strategy, were identified. These were, in order of decreasing food security: 'three food crops, coffee and khat', n = 68; 'three food crops and khat', n = 59; 'two food crops, coffee and khat', n = 78; 'two food crops and khat', n = 88; and 'one food crop, coffee and khat', n = 44. The livelihood strategy 'three food crops, coffee and khat' was associated with a wide range of capital assets, particularly having larger aggregate farm field size and learning from other farmers. A generalized linear model showed that livelihood strategies were significantly associated with food security outcomes. Particularly, a high number of food crops in a strategy was linked with relatively high food security. In this context, diversified livelihood strategies primarily through having a mix of food crops for subsistence, in combination with cash crops for income, are important for food security. This suggests a need to rethink dominant policy narratives, which have a narrow focus on increasing productivity and commercialization as the primary pathway to food security.
Knowledge of the shared resources— or commons— that aquaculture systems rely on, and the appropri... more Knowledge of the shared resources— or commons— that aquaculture systems rely on, and the appropriate rule and norm systems to govern them— or institutions— is far behind other natural resource use sectors. In this article, we provide a conceptual framework for identifying the social and environmental commons creating collective action problems for aquaculture governance. Collective action problems, or social di- lemmas, create problems for governing shared resources because the typical strate- gies for individual use (maximisation; free riding) are often divergent from broader group interests (e.g. fair contributions; sustainable use). This framework helps identify two types of collective action problems in aquaculture: first- order (direct use and provision of commons) and second- order (provision, maintenance and adaptation of institutions to govern commons). First- order aquaculture commons with governance challenges include water quality, water quantity, physical space, inputs, genetic diver- sity, mitigating infectious disease, earth and climate stability, infrastructure, knowl- edge and money. Second- order institutions govern the use of first- order commons. These include rule and norm systems that structure property rights and markets, aiming to better align individual behaviour and collective interests (e.g. sustainability goals) through governance. However, which combination of institutions will fit best is likely to be unique to context, where aquaculture has important differences from cap- ture fisheries and agriculture. We provide four case examples applying our conceptual framework to identify existing aquaculture commons, institutions and governance challenges in Peru (mariculture), the Philippines (earthen ponds), Nepal (raceways) and Denmark (recirculation).
The concept of commoning is continuing to gain scholarly interest, with multiple definitions and ... more The concept of commoning is continuing to gain scholarly interest, with multiple definitions and interpretations across different research communities. In this article, we define commoning as the actions by groups with shared interests towards creating shared social and relational processes as the basis of governance strategy. Perhaps it can be more simply defined as collective ways of relating and governing. This article addresses two specific gaps in the commoning literature: (1) to bridge disparate strands of literature on commoning by briefly reviewing each and arguing for integration through epistemic pluralism, and (2) to explicitly examine how power is manifest in commoning processes by bringing in a framework on power (i.e., power over, power with, power to, power within) to understand the links between power and commoning governance processes in two case studies. The two cases are tourism governance on Gili Trawangan, Indonesia and aquatic food production systems in Bulacan, Philippines. We preface this analysis with the argument that power is an integral part of the commoning concept, but that it has yet to be analytically integrated to applications of the broader institutional analysis and development framework or within the networks of action situations approach. We argue that by making explicit how an analysis of power can be coupled to a network of action situations analysis in a qualitative way, we are advancing a key feature of the commoning concept, which we introduce as rooted in epistemic and analytical pluralism in the analysis of governance. In the discussion, we expand on how each case study reveals each of the four power dynamics, and how they improve the understanding of commoning as a pluralistic and perhaps bridging analytical concept.
The population–environment–food nexus is a sustainability challenge for the Global South, and for... more The population–environment–food nexus is a sustainability challenge for the Global South, and for Africa in particular, where rapid human population growth typically overlaps with high levels of food insecurity and environmental degradation. In this context, it is important to understand the reasons driving high fertility in these regions. Here, we examined possible determinants of women’s fertility preferences in rural southwestern Ethiopia. Using a survey tool (n = 120), we assessed women’s perceptions of four key environmental stressors, namely food insecurity, environmental degradation, human population growth, and land scarcity. Through statistical modelling we tested whether there was a relationship between perceptions of future trends in these stressors and women’s fertility preferences; expressed as their desired number of children and use of family planning methods. This analysis was complemented by a qualitative content analysis of the survey’s open-ended questions, to con...
Journal of Environmental Science and Management, 2013
The sustainability of domestic water supply from the Layawan Watershed in Oroquieta City critical... more The sustainability of domestic water supply from the Layawan Watershed in Oroquieta City critically depend onpast and present conservation activities and the availability of funds from stakeholders such as households, communities, non-government organizations, private entities and government agencies. This study determined the willingness to pay (WTP) particularly of households in Oroquieta City to finance conservation projects in Layawan Watershed to ensure the sustainability of domestic water supply. A household survey of randomly selected 278 respondents was conducted using the dichotomous choice referendum format. The Heckman’s two-stage analysis for the parametric estimation of mean WTP yielded the values of PhP 4.00, PhP 6.00 and PhP 7.00 per month for mandatory, voluntary and pooled data sets, respectively. The households are willing to contribute funds for conserving Layawan Watershed as supported by the total WTP of Oroquieta City’s population that ranges from PhP 117,845.0...
Ensuring food security and halting biodiversity decline are two of the most urgent, interconnecte... more Ensuring food security and halting biodiversity decline are two of the most urgent, interconnected challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. Drawing on both the natural and social sciences, we implemented an interdisciplinary research agenda to address these challenges.<br> This book summarises the findings of five years of research in southwestern Ethiopia. It covers diverse topics, from biodiversity conservation to ecosystem services, livelihoods, social equity, population growth and governance. It concludes with an outlook of what the future may hold for southwestern Ethiopia. Each chapter in the book is based on peer-reviewed empirical science, begins with a summary of key messages, and concludes with a series of recommendations for policy and practice. The book seeks to inspire and inform policymakers, scientists and other stakeholders in Ethiopia and elsewhere, aiming to provide scientifically grounded, tangible insights that can help to harmonise biodiversity cons...
Livelihoods are activities and practices in which social and environmental factors interlink, and... more Livelihoods are activities and practices in which social and environmental factors interlink, and they play a key role in achieving human well-being and environmental conservation. Livelihood analyses are therefore important to social-ecological systems research. With a few exceptions, however, the concept of agency has been largely missing in research applying the social-ecological systems approach. This is an important gap to address, because humans are not passive victims of broader sociopolitical trends and environmental changes, but rather play causative roles that shape history. This paper presents a conceptual framework that enables the explicit integration of agency into livelihood analyses, and is useful for examining the extent to which livelihoods enable people to be agents of their own well-being, and stewards of their environment. The framework has four pillars of agency: preconditions (referring to capital assets and resources, or CARs); processes (feedbacks and dynamics); power (the social and political fabrics, and relations in which livelihoods are embedded); and possibilities (the extent to which a present livelihood expands into future options, and builds the ability to act on options). The framework is then applied to a case study analyzing smallholder farming livelihoods and food security in southwest Ethiopia. The case study is based on empirical work involving quantitative survey, in-depth interviews, and focus-group discussions. This paper demonstrates the applicability of the framework to identifying agency constraints in smallholder farming, and helps determine areas where agency can be further strengthened. Beyond the case study, the framework may also be applied in other contexts and to other livelihood types. Its application can strengthen the contribution of livelihood analysis to social-ecological systems research by providing a way to operationalize and foreground agency.
Flooding has increased in frequency in various parts of the country, causing damage to thousands ... more Flooding has increased in frequency in various parts of the country, causing damage to thousands of households every year. It directly affects communities through damage to livelihood and properties, loss of earning, and health hazards. Households dependent on agriculture for livelihood are particularly vulnerable because of the negative impact of flooding to productivity. Damage assessments following flood events are regularly done to determine extent of loss and to identify critical areas for intervention. However, these are often macroscale assessments, which do not necessarily generate information that could be useful for policymaking. At the municipal level, planning for disaster mitigation and adaptation strategies are devolved and should be operationalized. This study sought to determine microscale damage estimates of the largest flood event in the history of Jabonga, in Agusan del Norte, in southern Philippines. Jabonga is a lakeside municipality adjacent to Lake Mainit, the...
Aquaculture is the most rapidly growing food production sector globally. In certain coastal socia... more Aquaculture is the most rapidly growing food production sector globally. In certain coastal social-ecological systems, this has resulted in significant changes and sustainability challenges. In particular, coastal environments which used to support only capture fisheries are becoming sites for brackish water aquaculture production; this impacts the sustainability of aquatic food production. Sustainability challenges associated with aquaculture expansion and intensification necessitate a contextually rooted understanding of institutions and institutional changes which can be used as an informed basis for leveraging institutions to achieve desirable sustainability outcomes in the aquatic food sector. This research used a qualitative empirical case study involving in-depth interviews, participant observation, and analysis of institutional documents in the region of Central Luzon, Philippines. It applied the inter-institutional systems concept which considers multiple institutions with ...
This study sought to determine microscale damage estimates of the largest flood event in the hist... more This study sought to determine microscale damage estimates of the largest flood event in the history of the municipality of Jabonga in the province of Agusan del Norte. Jabonga is a lakeside municipality adjacent to Lake Mainit, the fourth largest lake in the Philippines. The study sought to on determine flood-prone areas in the municipality, characterize the flood event that occurred in the site from December 2010 to March 2011, estimate actual and potential damage for different flood scenarios, and determine variables that are significantly related to flood vulnerability and flood damage. A total of 870 households were surveyed. In the flood hazard zone, livelihood areas, particularly farms, are inundated for a month on average. Some houses are also inundated for about the same duration. Inundation time at the municipality scale is shorter. Results showed that the municipality is vulnerable, with about 90 percent of the damage to livelihood coming from the agriculture sector. Dama...
The Covid-19 pandemic is a global shock that is significantly affecting coastal social-ecological... more The Covid-19 pandemic is a global shock that is significantly affecting coastal social-ecological systems (SES) in different parts of the world. Its widespread impacts have unravelled vulnerabilities in many aspects of society, including food systems. Our study investigated the impacts of a lockdown associated with the pandemic in the province of Bulacan, in the region of Central Luzon, Philippines, where aquaculture and capture fisheries are important and interconnected sectors. In particular, we focused on impacts related to production and market. We considered people’s coping strategies and the factors that enabled such strategies. Our investigation adopted a case study approach and drew on qualitative data analysed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed differentiated mechanisms through which aquaculture and capture fisheries production were impacted. Both were strongly affected by market disruptions but through slightly different ways. In effect, the lockdown provided...
Abstract Ecosystem services are essential to human well-being. Different mechanisms modify people... more Abstract Ecosystem services are essential to human well-being. Different mechanisms modify people’s access to the benefits from ecosystem services, but who benefits from which services, and the underlying factors that shape such variability, often remain unclear. To address this, we surveyed current and past ecosystem service flows from forest and farmland into rural Ethiopian households. After disaggregating beneficiary groups, we explored current and past mechanisms that impeded or facilitated their access. We found five groups of current ecosystem service beneficiaries that received varying degrees of service flows from forest and farmland. Important access barriers were economic problems and shortage of land, particularly for worse-off households, and wildlife damage and labour shortage. Over time, flows from forest and those directly benefiting human well-being (e.g. food, energy) were perceived to have declined, especially for worse-off groups. In contrast, access to emerging market-oriented services with indirect benefits (such as cash crops) increased, but especially so for better-off groups who capitalised on market opportunities and agricultural intensification. Forest cover loss and protection caused decreased access across groups. Identifying group-specific access problems and trajectories, removing economic, land- and labour-related barriers, and addressing environmental challenges, are important to facilitate equitable sharing of the benefits of rural ecosystems.
Despite an increasing understanding of the issue of marine pollution, humanity continues on a lar... more Despite an increasing understanding of the issue of marine pollution, humanity continues on a largely unsustainable trajectory. This study aimed to identify and classify the range of scientific studies and interventions to address coastal and marine pollution. We reviewed 2417 scientific papers published between 2000 and 2018, 741 of which we analysed in depth. To classify pollution interventions, we applied the systems-oriented concept of leverage points, which focuses on places to intervene in complex systems to bring about systemic change. We found that pollution is largely studied as a technical problem and fewer studies engage with pollution as a systemic social-ecological issue. While recognising the importance of technical solutions, we highlight the need to focus on under-researched areas pertaining to the deeper drivers of pollution (e.g. institutions, values) which are needed to fundamentally alter system trajectories.
We studied food security and biodiversity conservation from a social-ecological perspective in so... more We studied food security and biodiversity conservation from a social-ecological perspective in southwestern Ethiopia. Specialist tree, bird, and mammal species required large, undisturbed forest, supporting the notion of 'land sparing' for conservation. However, our findings also suggest that forest areas should be embedded within a multifunctional landscape matrix (i.e. 'land sharing'), because farmland also supported many species and ecosystem services and was the basis of diversified livelihoods. Diversified livelihoods improved smallholder food security, while lack of access to capital assets and crop raiding by wild forest animals negatively influenced food security. Food and biodiversity governance lacked coordination and was strongly hierarchical, with relatively few stakeholders being highly powerful. Our study shows that issues of livelihoods, access to resources, governance and equity are central when resolving challenges around food security and biodiversity. A multi-facetted, socialecological approach is better able to capture such complexity than the conventional, twodimensional land sparing versus sharing framework.
Global discourses on the governance of food security span competing approaches. For example, a ne... more Global discourses on the governance of food security span competing approaches. For example, a neoliberal approach advocates commercialized, industrial agriculture, while food sovereignty and resilience are part of an alternative discourse to food security that prioritizes locally-based agroecological food production. Understanding how global discourses play out locally and how they impact the environment and biodiversity is important to identify appropriate pathways towards sustainability. In addition to their effects on food security, different approaches could reinforce or impede the success of biodiversity conservation because of the strong interdependence of food security and ecosystems. We applied the Q-methodology to examine alternative approaches to food security and biodiversity conservation pursued by 50 stakeholders from local to national levels in southwestern Ethiopia. We identified four distinct approaches, focusing on (1) smallholder commercialization, (2) agroecology and resilience, (3) local economy and equity, and (4) market liberalization. All approaches prioritized smallholders, but perspectives on how to achieve food security varied. Agricultural intensification, commercialization, and profit were widely considered important, while support for agroecology and resilience was largely restricted to non-government organizations. With the exception of supporters of the agroecology and resilience approach, biodiversity conservation was considered as a secondary goal. We conclude it is important to acknowledge plurality of food security approaches because local conditions are characterized by a multiplicity of stakeholder interests, and because food security is a complex problem that requires a multidimensional approach. However, major contradictions among existing approaches need to be reconciled, and the agroecology and resilience approach should be strengthened to ensure the sustainable achievement of food security and biodiversity conservation.
We investigated how smallholder farming households in southwestern Ethiopia coped with challenges... more We investigated how smallholder farming households in southwestern Ethiopia coped with challenges related to lack in capital assets and food shortage. We focused on interactions between capital assets using, in particular, capital asset substitution as an analytical lens to classify and unpack the interactions. The most commonly mentioned challenges were related to natural and economic capitals, and these frequently caused seasonal food shortages. Households responded to the lack in capital assets or food through processes that drew on more readily available capital assets. Common ways in which households coped involved drawing on social and human capitals (i.e. increasing labor input) to address lack in other types of capital assets and lack in food. These types of asset substitution tended to facilitate the maintenance of a household's capital asset base. In contrast, some households liquidated physical and economic capital assets to cope, but these types of substitution tended to erode their capital asset base. In sum, our findings highlight the natural environment as well as social and human capitals as foundational to smallholder livelihoods and food security. In practical terms, the study provides information on coping strategies that should be avoided or modified to prevent capital asset erosion, and highlights those that should be supported and strengthened to enable the maintenance (and eventual growth) of households' capital assets. Conceptually, the study contributes to livelihoods research by highlighting the usefulness of capital asset substitution for investigating interactions between different capital assets.
How transformative processes could be facilitated to improve gender equality and consequently, hu... more How transformative processes could be facilitated to improve gender equality and consequently, human well-being, is a key question for moving towards a just and sustainable future. Focusing on southwestern Ethiopia where significant changes in formal institutions related to gender have occurred, we applied the concept of systemic leverage points. We show that changes in formal structures facilitated changes in perceived visible gender gaps, such as increased participation of women in public activities. These, in turn, played an enabling role for changes in community norms, and (to a lesser degree) triggered reconsideration of perceptions about women's capacities. Both women and men perceived more equal gender relations as being associated with better well-being at the household level. Our results highlight the important role of interactions between leverage points for gender equality, suggesting important insights can be gained by studying interactions, compared to when shallow (e.g., visible gaps) or deeper leverage points (e.g., social norms) are analyzed in isolation. Our study also demonstrated the general suitability of a leverage-points perspective in gender research, including as an analytical frame to complement gender transformative approaches.
Households combine capital assets in a process involving human agency and resourcefulness to cons... more Households combine capital assets in a process involving human agency and resourcefulness to construct livelihood strategies and generate well-being outcomes. Here, we (1) characterized types of livelihood strategies; (2) determined how different capital assets are associated with different livelihood strategies; and (3) determined how livelihood strategies differed in food security outcomes. We conducted a survey in southwestern Ethiopia and used principal component and cluster analyses. Five types of livelihood strategies, which differed mainly in food and cash crops comprising the strategy, were identified. These were, in order of decreasing food security: 'three food crops, coffee and khat', n = 68; 'three food crops and khat', n = 59; 'two food crops, coffee and khat', n = 78; 'two food crops and khat', n = 88; and 'one food crop, coffee and khat', n = 44. The livelihood strategy 'three food crops, coffee and khat' was associated with a wide range of capital assets, particularly having larger aggregate farm field size and learning from other farmers. A generalized linear model showed that livelihood strategies were significantly associated with food security outcomes. Particularly, a high number of food crops in a strategy was linked with relatively high food security. In this context, diversified livelihood strategies primarily through having a mix of food crops for subsistence, in combination with cash crops for income, are important for food security. This suggests a need to rethink dominant policy narratives, which have a narrow focus on increasing productivity and commercialization as the primary pathway to food security.
Knowledge of the shared resources— or commons— that aquaculture systems rely on, and the appropri... more Knowledge of the shared resources— or commons— that aquaculture systems rely on, and the appropriate rule and norm systems to govern them— or institutions— is far behind other natural resource use sectors. In this article, we provide a conceptual framework for identifying the social and environmental commons creating collective action problems for aquaculture governance. Collective action problems, or social di- lemmas, create problems for governing shared resources because the typical strate- gies for individual use (maximisation; free riding) are often divergent from broader group interests (e.g. fair contributions; sustainable use). This framework helps identify two types of collective action problems in aquaculture: first- order (direct use and provision of commons) and second- order (provision, maintenance and adaptation of institutions to govern commons). First- order aquaculture commons with governance challenges include water quality, water quantity, physical space, inputs, genetic diver- sity, mitigating infectious disease, earth and climate stability, infrastructure, knowl- edge and money. Second- order institutions govern the use of first- order commons. These include rule and norm systems that structure property rights and markets, aiming to better align individual behaviour and collective interests (e.g. sustainability goals) through governance. However, which combination of institutions will fit best is likely to be unique to context, where aquaculture has important differences from cap- ture fisheries and agriculture. We provide four case examples applying our conceptual framework to identify existing aquaculture commons, institutions and governance challenges in Peru (mariculture), the Philippines (earthen ponds), Nepal (raceways) and Denmark (recirculation).
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Papers by Aisa Manlosa