In the past few years, there has been a growing amount of research on economic quantifications and valuations of ecosystem services (ES) in agricultural systems. However, little attention has been given to cultural ESs (CES) in general and their link to the landscape in particular. This paper tries to tackle this gap with a case study on the Ifugao Rice Terraces of the Philippines. The study aims to understand the interrelations between the different CESs and their relationships with the landscape.

Increasing temperatures and wildfire incidence and decreasing precipitation and river runoff in southern Africa are predicted to have a variety of impacts on the ecology, structure, and function of semi-arid savannas, which provide innumerable livelihood resources for millions of people.

Lost in the debates about the appropriate scale of production to promote agricultural growth in Africa is the rapid expansion of medium-scale farmers. Using Zambia as a case study, this article explores the causes and consequences of this middle-tier transformation on the future of small-scale agriculture. Combining political economic analysis with household survey data, this article examines the relationships between the growth in medium-scale farmers and changing conditions of land access, inequality, and alienation for small-scale farmers.

This study investigates how two existing pan-tropical above-ground biomass (AGB) maps (Saatchi 2011, Baccini 2012) can be combined to derive forest ecosystem specific carbon estimates. Several data-fusion models which combine these AGB maps according to their local correlations with independent datasets such as the spectral bands of SPOT VEGETATION imagery are analyzed. Indeed these spectral bands convey information about vegetation type and structure which can be related to biomass values. Our study area is the island of Borneo.

Rainfall intensity is predicted to increase under a changing climate, leading to increased risks of hillslope erosion, downstream sedimentation and flooding. For many catchments used for grazing and agricultural land uses, it will become increasingly important to maintain ecohydrological functioning despite climatic extremes. One means to achieve this is through strategic reforestation using locally endemic species, in spatial configurations that effectively intercept, retain or and redistribute overland flows.

The past decade has ushered in an era of increasingly contentious land politics in Zambia, with investors, the government, and chiefs simultaneously blamed for injustices in land allocation. These conflicts over land have been exacerbated, and at times caused by the lack of transparency and available data on the status of land. While a variety of actors has real grievances with the security and efficiency of the current system of land allocation, smallholder farmers bear the brunt of the risk of continuing the status quo in land policy.

The preservation, development and sustainable use of agricultural land are of vital importance to ensure longterm food security in South Africa. These principles of food security as well as an integrated, inclusive rural economy underpin the core focus areas of the National Development Plan, Vision 2030 (NDP).

This Decision approves the adjusted and supplemented master plan on socio-economic development of Lao Cai province through 2020, with a vision toward 2030 with the following principal contents: 1. The master plan on socio-economic development of Lao Cai province must conform to the national socio-economic development strategy, the master plan on socio-economic development of the northern midland and mountainous regions and be in line with sectoral development master plans nationwide. 2.

Customary land is the foundation of smallholder agriculture in Zambia. In recent decades much of this land has under gone significant change as the result of population pressures, land alienation, infrastructure investments, and climate change. Despite these changes, knowledge about both the quantity of customary land and the quality of this land for agricultural commercialization purposes is scant.

The Anambé irrigation scheme charter sets out management principles for efficient and sustainable agricultural development. The charter is based on a consensus between river basin users and local authorities. Now the challenge is to put this into practice.

Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. It employs 45% of the labor force, contributes 21.4% to the gross domestic product and provides food to more than 180 million people of the country. The required plethoric resources to produce food correspondingly protect the population against food insecurity. This study explores the distribution of land resources, their ranking and relationships with food security in all districts of Punjab province of Pakistan. The Gini Coefficient and multiple linear regression were employed.

Our study focuses on pasture reform in Azerbaijan within the context of transition and pasture reform in Central Asian and Caucasian countries. Despite the rapid emergence of individualised rights for pasture plots, which is an exceptional development in this region, pasture reform in Azerbaijan has received little attention in the scientific literature.