IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2020i1p87-d467267.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Integrated Use of Local and Technical Soil Quality Indicators and Participatory Techniques to Select Them. A Review of Bibliography and Analysis of Research Strategies and Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Greta Braidotti

    (Agricultural-Food, Environment and Animal Care Department, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy)

  • Maria De Nobili

    (Agricultural-Food, Environment and Animal Care Department, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy)

  • Lucia Piani

    (Agricultural-Food, Environment and Animal Care Department, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy)

Abstract

Climate change has strong impacts on soil conservation and agricultural productivity, with severe consequences on smallholders in developing countries, but virtually no research has been carried out so far on this issue. Therefore, it is necessary to foster the implementation of participatory projects to help communities deal with new difficulties. Sustainable soil management can reduce and even reverse land degradation, helping farmers to adapt to climate change effects. Progress toward sustainability cannot be implemented in small rural communities regardless of local knowledge, which can be addressed using participatory techniques. To this purpose the choice and use of indicators is essential to carry out correct assessments of soil vulnerability integrating local and technical knowledge. The purpose of this review was to study how the problem of building a set of integrated indicators to assess soil quality has been addressed so far and which participatory techniques have been more successfully employed, analyzing studies carried out in rural communities of developing countries. We found out that there is a lack of participated studies dealing with environmental issues. Those that do so address them only indirectly, being centered on present agricultural problems. The studies rarely feature a collaboration with social science experts, consequently the use of participatory techniques lacks protocols and a standardized nomenclature to help in the transfer and generalization of experiences. Women are rarely involved and nearly exclusively in African countries: this could be related to social and cultural conditions, but needs more attention. Different aspects need to be improved to help the implementation of a successful approach in future projects. This review provides a tool to facilitate future interdisciplinary research on integration of local and scientific knowledge and will help to devise more successful strategies to tackle the challenges posed by climate change to smallholders in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Greta Braidotti & Maria De Nobili & Lucia Piani, 2020. "Integrated Use of Local and Technical Soil Quality Indicators and Participatory Techniques to Select Them. A Review of Bibliography and Analysis of Research Strategies and Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-28, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:87-:d:467267
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/87/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/87/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tittonell, P. & Leffelaar, P.A. & Vanlauwe, B. & van Wijk, M.T. & Giller, K.E., 2006. "Exploring diversity of crop and soil management within smallholder African farms: A dynamic model for simulation of N balances and use efficiencies at field scale," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 71-101, November.
    2. Esilaba, A.O. & Byalebeka, J.B. & Delve, R.J. & Okalebo, J.R. & Ssenyange, D. & Mbalule, M. & Ssali, H., 2005. "On farm testing of integrated nutrient management strategies in eastern Uganda," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 144-165, November.
    3. Oecd, 2009. "Climate Change and Africa," OECD Journal: General Papers, OECD Publishing, vol. 2009(1), pages 5-35.
    4. Seema Purushothaman & Sheetal Patil & Ierene Francis, 2012. "Impact of policies favouring organic inputs on small farms in Karnataka, India: a multicriteria approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 507-527, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Thennakoon, Jayanthi & Findlay, Christopher & Huang, Jikun & Wang, Jinxia, 2020. "Management adaptation to flood in Guangdong Province in China: Do property rights Matter?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Giuseppe Maggio & Marina Mastrorillo & Nicholas J. Sitko, 2022. "Adapting to High Temperatures: Effect of Farm Practices and Their Adoption Duration on Total Value of Crop Production in Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 385-403, January.
    3. Gupta, Rishabh & Mishra, Ashok, 2019. "Climate change induced impact and uncertainty of rice yield of agro-ecological zones of India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 1-11.
    4. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2014. "What Do We Learn from the Weather? The New Climate-Economy Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 740-798, September.
    5. Seydou Zakari & Germaine Ibro & Bokar Moussa & Tahirou Abdoulaye, 2022. "Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Impacts on Household Income and Food Security: Evidence from Sahelian Region of Niger," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Vermaak, Herman Jacobus & Kusakana, Kanzumba & Koko, Sandile Philip, 2014. "Status of micro-hydrokinetic river technology in rural applications: A review of literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 625-633.
    7. Kwasi, Frimpong & Oosthuizen, Jacque & Etten, Eddie Van, 2014. "The Extent of Heat on Health and Sustainable Farming in Ghana –Bawku East," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 3(3).
    8. Simon Tilleard & James Ford, 2016. "Adaptation readiness and adaptive capacity of transboundary river basins," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 575-591, August.
    9. Tanimonure, Victoria Adeyemi, 2021. "Impact of Climate Adaptation Strategies on the Net Farm Revenue of Underutilized Indigenous Vegetables’ (UIVs) Production in Southwest Nigeria," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315903, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Possenti, Silvia., 2012. "Rural development strategies as a path to decent work and reducing urban informal employment : the case of South Africa," ILO Working Papers 994790883402676, International Labour Organization.
    11. Sam Barrett, 2015. "Subnational Adaptation Finance Allocation: Comparing Decentralized and Devolved Political Institutions in Kenya," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 118-139, August.
    12. Bishu, Kinfe & O'Reilly, Seamus & Lahiff, Edward & Steiner, Bodo, 2016. "Cattle farmers’ perceptions of risk and risk management strategies," MPRA Paper 74954, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Lucia de Strasser, 2017. "Calling for Nexus Thinking in Africa’s Energy Planning," ESP: Energy Scenarios and Policy 263161, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    14. Samuel Asante Gyamerah & Philip Ngare & Dennis Ikpe, 2018. "Regime-Switching Temperature Dynamics Model for Weather Derivatives," International Journal of Stochastic Analysis, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-15, July.
    15. Fernando M. Aragón & Francisco Oteiza & Juan Pablo Rud, 2018. "Climate change and agriculture: farmer adaptation to extreme heat," IFS Working Papers W18/06, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    16. Mushtaq, Shahbaz & Cockfield, Geoff & White, Neil & Jakeman, Guy, 2014. "Modelling interactions between farm-level structural adjustment and a regional economy: A case of the Australian rice industry," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 34-42.
    17. Samira Shayanmehr & Shida Rastegari Henneberry & Mahmood Sabouhi Sabouni & Naser Shahnoushi Foroushani, 2020. "Climate Change and Sustainability of Crop Yield in Dry Regions Food Insecurity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-24, November.
    18. Tran, Thi Xuyen, 2021. "Typhoon and Agricultural Production Portfolio -Empirical Evidence for a Developing Economy," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242411, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Cook, Aaron M. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E. & Sesmero, Juan P., 2013. "How do African households adapt to climate change? Evidence from Malawi," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150507, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Mattoo, Aaditya & Subramanian, Arvind, 2012. "Equity in Climate Change: An Analytical Review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1083-1097.

    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:jsusta:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:87-:d:467267. 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.