Woody plant encroachment—the conversion of grasslands to woodlands—continues to transform rangelands worldwide, yet its causes and consequences remain poorly understood. Despite this being a coupled human-ecological phenomenon, research to date has tended toward ecological aspects of the issue. In this paper, we provide new insight into the long-term relationships between human demographics and woody plant cover at the landscape scale.

This study examines the causes and consequences of gully erosion, as perceived by the local people of Dangara area, Nigeria. The study particularly seeks to explore the local people’s perceptions of gully erosion and how it affects crop, settlement development, crop yields, land ownership and values, rural economics and private conservation investments in Dangara area of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. It is based on analysis of data collected using questionnaires administered to 346 respondents in the area.

Land fragmentation is a problem in Europe, and Estonia is not an exception in this respect. Parcel size is widespread characteristic to describe the level of fragmentation. The aim of the study is to find out if there is difference of fragmentation among different groups of landholdings by size. In order to characterise land fragmentation, were calculated the Januszewski and Schmook indexes, average parcel size and average distance from the gravity centre of each landholding to its parcels. Results showed a high level of fragmentation of Estonian agricultural landholdings.

We explore the utility of a consumption coping strategy index (CSI) in characterising and assessing the factors influencing household food insecurity.

The fragmentation of landholdings is considered as disturbing factor for agriculture. The aim of this article is to evaluate the extent of land fragmentation of the large landholdings in Estonia. The Januszewski and Schmook indexes were calculated for that purpose. The detailed survey of three agricultural landholdings was conducted in order to assess the possibilities to reduce the land fragmentation and improve their land use conditions. Results showed that Estonian agricultural producers’ landholdings are considerably fragmented.

Acacia mearnsii De Wild (black wattle) is an important plantation species for tannin production and woodchip exports in South Africa and Brazil. This study provides an updated overview of the black wattle industries in both countries, including planted areas and land ownership, silviculture and management, bark extract production, woodchip exports, as well as key research and development issues. The current total planted area to black wattle is 110 000 ha in South Africa and c. 170 000 ha in Brazil. In both countries black wattle is mainly cultivated by farmers (c.

CONTEXT: Landscape ecology theory provides insight about how large assemblages of protected areas (PAs) should be configured to protect biodiversity. We adapted these theories to evaluate whether the emergence of decentralized land protection in a largely private landscape followed the principles of reserve design. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to determine: (1) Are there distinct clusters of PAs in time and space? (2) Are PAs becoming more spatially clustered through time? and (3) Does the resulting PA portfolio have traits characteristic of ideal reserve design?

In agrarian economies like Pakistan, agriculture structure especially, pattern of ownership of land and size distribution are crucial indicator and principal form of wealth and political power. The present study represents an attempt to look in current structure of land holdings, land tenure, and land fragmentation by using Pakistan agriculture census report 2010. Opportunities and challenges faced by small farms in Pakistan are also discussed.

Fresh water provisioning is a crucial ecosystem service (ES) in the agrarian societies of East Africa. Water resources are highly dependent on several other ES such as the water retention capacity of vegetation and the purification properties of soil. However, ES are constantly challenged by dynamic changes within water–land–vegetation–human relations. Environmental policies usually address immediate anthropic pressures but overlook multiple historical stressors, or ‘drivers’.

Since 2004, we have witnessed an increased demand in the acquisition of agricultural property, both by individual farmers and entities not previously associated with agriculture. A significant increase in the transaction prices of agricultural real estate in recent years has been caused by the impact of limited agricultural land supply and external factors related to the functioning of Polish agriculture in the economy of the European Community. The value of agricultural real estate is affected by many factors that are taken into account when determining the value of real estate.

Public agricultural research has been conducted in Africa for decades. While many studies have examined its aggregate impacts, few have investigated how it affects the poor. This paper helps fill this gap by applying a new procedure to explore the ex post impacts of improved maize varieties on poverty in rural Ethiopia. Plot‐level yield and cost changes due to adoption are first estimated using instrumental variable and marginal treatment effect techniques where possible heterogeneity is carefully accounted for.

The common use of pesticide is a major challenge in trying to accomplish sustainable agriculture. Farming systems based on integrated pest management (IPM) technologies can reduce the use of pesticides to a great extent without causing harm to the yield. Therefore, Bangladesh, like many developing countries, launched IPM technologies to reduce the adverse effects of pesticides in social, economic and environmental aspects. This study made an attempt to analyze the level of IPM adoption and the intensity of IPM practices by vegetable farmers of Narsingdi district, Bangladesh.