IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v6y2016i3p48-d78522.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Can Multifunctional Agriculture Support a Transition to a Green Economy in Africa? Lessons from the COMACO Model in Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Orleans Mfune

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, The University of Zambia, P. O. Box 32379, Lusaka 10101, Zambia
    United Nations University-Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) Green Economy Project, International House, University of Ghana, Legon Campus, Accra, Ghana)

  • Moses Ngongo Chisola

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, The University of Zambia, P. O. Box 32379, Lusaka 10101, Zambia)

  • Ignitius Ziba

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, The University of Zambia, P. O. Box 32379, Lusaka 10101, Zambia)

Abstract

This paper examines the link between the green economy and multifunctional agriculture. In particular, the paper uses the case of the Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) initiative, an agro-based enterprise promoting a multifunctional agriculture model in Eastern Zambia, to examine how the potential of smallholder farmers can be harnessed to support a transition towards the green economy. The empirical data on which the paper is based were collected through questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews conducted with farmers and other actors in the agricultural sector. The results of the study show that a number of elements underpinning the COMACO model including sustainable land management practices, conservation outreach, community markets, value addition, and conservation dividends have great potential to deliver benefits related to the green economy. However, to truly foster a transition towards a green economy, a number of constraints need to be overcome. These include lack of a supportive policy and institutional framework, technological backwardness, and lack of consumer awareness of environmental information instruments such as eco-labelling.

Suggested Citation

  • Orleans Mfune & Moses Ngongo Chisola & Ignitius Ziba, 2016. "How Can Multifunctional Agriculture Support a Transition to a Green Economy in Africa? Lessons from the COMACO Model in Zambia," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-17, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:6:y:2016:i:3:p:48-:d:78522
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/6/3/48/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/6/3/48/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Connolly, Kevin & Allan, Grant J & McIntyre, Stuart G, 2016. "The evolution of green jobs in Scotland: A hybrid approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 355-360.
    2. Ben D. MacArthur & Richard O. C. Oreffo, 2005. "Bridging the gap," Nature, Nature, vol. 433(7021), pages 19-19, January.
    3. Tembo, Solomon & Sitko, Nicholas, 2013. "Technical Compendium: Descriptive Agricultural Statistics and Analysis for Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 155988, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    4. Yi, Hongtao, 2014. "Green businesses in a clean energy economy: Analyzing drivers of green business growth in U.S. states," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 922-929.
    5. Cai, Wenjia & Wang, Can & Chen, Jining & Wang, Siqiang, 2011. "Green economy and green jobs: Myth or reality? The case of China’s power generation sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 5994-6003.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yari Vecchio & Abdul-Latif Iddrisu & Felice Adinolfi & Marcello De Rosa, 2020. "Geographical Indication to Build up Resilient Rural Economies: A Case Study from Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bowen, Alex & Kuralbayeva, Karlygash & Tipoe, Eileen L., 2018. "Characterising green employment: The impacts of ‘greening’ on workforce composition," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 263-275.
    2. Elliott, Robert J. R. & Kuai, Wenjing & Maddison, David & Ozgen, Ceren, 2021. "Eco-Innovation and Employment: A Task-Based Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 14028, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Niall Farrell & Cathal O'Donoghue & Karyn Morrissey, 2020. "Regional income and wave energy deployment in Ireland," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 509-531, June.
    4. Bowen, Alex & Kuralbayeva, Karlygash & Tipoe, Eileen L., 2018. "Characterising green employment: The impacts of ‘greening’ on workforce composition," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 263-275.
    5. Anca Vasilica Tănasie & Luiza Loredana Năstase & Luminița Lucia Vochița & Andra Maria Manda & Geanina Iulia Boțoteanu & Cătălina Soriana Sitnikov, 2022. "Green Economy—Green Jobs in the Context of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-23, April.
    6. Dell’Anna, Federico, 2021. "Green jobs and energy efficiency as strategies for economic growth and the reduction of environmental impacts," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    7. Marra, Alessandro & Antonelli, Paola & Dell’Anna, Luca & Pozzi, Cesare, 2015. "A network analysis using metadata to investigate innovation in clean-tech – Implications for energy policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 17-26.
    8. Ercan Tomakin, 2014. "Teaching English Tenses (grammar) in the Turkish Texts; A Case of Simple Present Tense: Is?l Maketi Iter," International Journal of Learning and Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 4(1), pages 115-131, March.
    9. Peter Viggo Jakobsen, 2009. "Small States, Big Influence: The Overlooked Nordic Influence on the Civilian ESDP," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 81-102, January.
    10. Grabowski, Philip P. & Kerr, John M. & Haggblade, Steven & Kabwe, Stephen, 2014. "Determinants of Adoption of Minimum Tillage by Cotton Farmers in Eastern Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 188567, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    11. Grace Kite, 2014. "Linked in? Software and Information Technology Services in India’s Economic Development," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 9(2), pages 99-119, August.
    12. Spyros Arvanitis & Ursina Kubli & Martin Woerter, 2006. "University-Industry Knowledge Interaction in Switzerland: What University Scientists Think about Co-operation with Private Enterprises," KOF Working papers 06-132, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    13. Falco, Paolo & Zaccagni, Sarah, 2020. "Promoting social distancing in a pandemic: Beyond the good intentions," OSF Preprints a2nys, Center for Open Science.
    14. Stylos, Nikolaos & Vassiliadis, Chris A. & Bellou, Victoria & Andronikidis, Andreas, 2016. "Destination images, holistic images and personal normative beliefs: Predictors of intention to revisit a destination," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 40-60.
    15. Anesi, Vincent, 2012. "Secessionism and minority protection in an uncertain world," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 53-61.
    16. Anesi, Vincent, 2012. "Secessionism and minority protection in an uncertain world," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 53-61.
    17. Valentine, Scott Victor, 2014. "The socio-political economy of electricity generation in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 416-429.
    18. Lim, Taekyoung & Guzman, Tatyana S. & Bowen, William M., 2020. "Rhetoric and Reality: Jobs and the Energy Provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    19. Jean-François Ruault & Alice Dupré La Tour & André Evette & Sandrine Allain & Jean-Marc Callois, 2022. "A biodiversity-employment framework to protect biodiversity," Post-Print hal-03365820, HAL.
    20. Deribe Assefa Aga & N. Noorderhaven & B. Vallejo, 2018. "Project beneficiary participation and behavioural intentions promoting project sustainability: The mediating role of psychological ownership," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(5), pages 527-546, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:6:y:2016:i:3:p:48-:d:78522. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.