Description

This brief addresses the questions:Can smallholders in developing countries afford sustainability?

Can soil erosion be prevented at relatively low cost to producers? What conservation practices are most acceptable to farmers that live off the land in fragile upland environments?

The researchers stress that efforts to prevent land degradation must focus on promoting better management practices rather than on restricting access and resource use. In their view, this approach is more likely to succeed in the long run than the top-down conversion of upland tropical areas into nature reserve and national parks that do not account for the livelihood needs of local people. The researchers also point to the need to situate natural resource management and longterm development planning in a landscape perspective, based on an understanding of ecological and economic linkages between lowlands and highlands.

This brief is derived from:

Midmore, D., T. Nissen and D. Poudel. 2001. Making a living out of agriculture: Some reflections on vegetable production systems in the Manupali watershed In I. Coxhead and G. Buenavista (eds.) Seeking Sustainability: Callenges of Agricultural Development and Environmental Management in a Philippine Watershed. PCARRD. Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines