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From education to rehabilitation: empowering farming communities through extension services for landscape restoration

Author

Listed:
  • Ayat Ullah

    (Czech University of Life Sciences Prague)

  • Alam Zeb

    (Shaheed BB University)

  • Ashfaq Ahmad Shah

    (Hohai University)

  • Miroslava Bavorova

    (Czech University of Life Sciences Prague)

Abstract

Public extension services disseminate awareness and promote community participation in landscape restoration efforts around the world. Due to the importance of forest restoration programs in Pakistan, access to public extension services can have a significant impact on community mobilization in reforestation efforts. This study quantifies the social and landscape restoration impacts of extension services in communities with and without access to extension services. It also identifies the factors influencing community-level access to extension services in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region of Pakistan. The results of our study showed that those communities that had access to extension services were more active and effective in restoring forest landscapes than those that didn’t have access to extension services. Extension services increased awareness of forest conservation, adoption and implementation of forest management strategies, changes in attitudes and behaviors, and social empowerment through capacity building. The findings suggested that several factors, including no roads to a village on hilltop, proximity/distance of a village to the extension office, lack of community cooperation with extension officers, weak government support for extension agents and elite capture in the communities restricted communities’ access to extension services. Based on the findings of the study, we recommend the development of infrastructure, especially roads to uphill villages, and the recruitment of more extension agents to include marginalized communities in extension programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Ayat Ullah & Alam Zeb & Ashfaq Ahmad Shah & Miroslava Bavorova, 2024. "From education to rehabilitation: empowering farming communities through extension services for landscape restoration," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 11681-11701, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:26:y:2024:i:5:d:10.1007_s10668-023-03452-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-03452-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mazhar Biland & Alam Zeb & Ayat Ullah & Harald Kaechele, 2021. "Why Do Households Depend on the Forest for Income? Analysis of Factors Influencing Households’ Decision-Making Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Valeria Piñeiro & Joaquín Arias & Jochen Dürr & Pablo Elverdin & Ana María Ibáñez & Alison Kinengyere & Cristian Morales Opazo & Nkechi Owoo & Jessica R. Page & Steven D. Prager & Maximo Torero, 2020. "A scoping review on incentives for adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and their outcomes," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(10), pages 809-820, October.
    3. Ragasa, Catherine & Mazunda, John, 2018. "The impact of agricultural extension services in the context of a heavily subsidized input system: The case of Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 25-47.
    4. Ullah, Ayat & Arshad, Muhammad & Kächele, Harald & Khan, Ayesha & Mahmood, Nasir & Müller, Klaus, 2020. "Information asymmetry, input markets, adoption of innovations and agricultural land use in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Ayat Ullah & Nasir Mahmood & Alam Zeb & Harald Kächele, 2020. "Factors Determining Farmers’ Access to and Sources of Credit: Evidence from the Rain-Fed Zone of Pakistan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, November.
    6. Stefan Dercon & John Hoddinott & Tassew Woldehanna, 2012. "Growth and Chronic Poverty: Evidence from Rural Communities in Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 238-253, February.
    7. J. Dara Bloom, 2021. "“Spiraling up”: Using ripple effect mapping to evaluate how an extension volunteer program increases community development capacity," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(1), pages 22-41, January.
    8. Constant, Natasha Louise & Taylor, Peter John, 2020. "Restoring the forest revives our culture: Ecosystem services and values for ecological restoration across the rural-urban nexus in South Africa," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    9. Ullah, Ayat & Arshad, Muhammad & Kächele, Harald & Zeb, Alam & Mahmood, Nasir & Müller, Klaus, 2020. "Socio-economic analysis of farmers facing asymmetric information in inputs markets: evidence from the rainfed zone of Pakistan," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    10. Ida Nadia S. Djenontin & Samson Foli & Leo C. Zulu, 2018. "Revisiting the Factors Shaping Outcomes for Forest and Landscape Restoration in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Way Forward for Policy, Practice and Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-34, March.
    11. Ayat Ullah & Shahab E. Saqib & Harald Kächele, 2022. "Determinants of Farmers’ Awareness and Adoption of Extension Recommended Wheat Varieties in the Rainfed Areas of Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, March.
    12. Ullah, Ayat & Zeb, Alam & Saqib, Shahab E. & Kächele, Harald, 2022. "Landscape co-management and livelihood sustainability: Lessons learned from the billion trees afforestation project in Pakistan," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    13. Fahad, Shah & Wang, Jianling, 2018. "Farmers’ risk perception, vulnerability, and adaptation to climate change in rural Pakistan," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 301-309.
    14. Vijesh V Krishna & Lagesh M Aravalath & Surjit Vikraman, 2019. "Does caste determine farmer access to quality information?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-22, January.
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