Links between poverty and land degradation

1. Links between poverty and land degradation Hannah Arpke ORD

2. Introduction • Poverty defined differently by local people and outsiders • e.g. range from having “vices” to being ill • Socio-cultural and traditional/ religious context has to be taken into account • Poverty line established at below $2/day/person

3. Introduction • Absolute poverty lies below $1/day/person • Based on economic indicators such as income/head (UNDP, 2000) • Most poor people found in Sub-Saharan South Asia (50% of world’s poor), Africa (19%), East Asia (15%) and Latin America (10%) (Pinstrupp-Andersen & Pandya-Loch, 1994; UNDP, 1999)

4. Introduction • Land degradation involves soil erosion, loss of vegetation cover, loss of productivity and income/resource base, desertification • Not limited to arid/tropical areas or less-developed countries • China lost 4 mill. ha productive land between 1987 and 1992 due to forest and pasture expansion and urbanisation which caused erosion, salinity, water-logging etc., constituting 84% of all causes of degradation (Gardner, 1996)

5. Introduction • 38% of cultivated area worldwide damaged by agricultural mismanagement (1990) • e.g. Iraq: 94% of total land degraded by salinity caused by inadequate drainage of inherently salty soils • Most affected: • Central America (74%), Africa (65%), Asia (38%)

6. Manifestations • Land degradation: • Loss of genetic resources • Loss of floral & faunal (agro-) biodiversity • Destabilised ecosystems • Loss of forests • Loss or damage of production base – soil, water sources • Changed micro-climate • Desertification (Netting, 1993; Redcliff & Sage,1994; Shidiwah, 1996, Greenland et al.,1998;)

7. Manifestations • Poverty: • Lack of assets/capital • Natural • Human/ Social • Physical • Power/ Influence/ Opportunities • Knowledge • Education • Malnutrition • High (infant) mortality

8. Causes (a simplistic view…) • Land degradation • Malthusian view of population increase driving the need for food, fuel, industry, building sites and material • Encroachment on marginal/fragile land • Intensified use/exploitation of all resources • Coupled with lack of knowledge causes mismanagement of resources • N.B. Boserup (Redcliff &Sage, 1994) argues that population increase drives agricultural and technological advancement

9. Causes (a simplistic view) • Poverty: • Same as manifestations? • Creating a feedback loop between manifestation that become causes? • Redcliff and Sage (1994) also argue that not only direct, local factors play a role, the whole global situation with increased levels of consumption in richer countries drives poverty-land degradation dynamic

10. Complex issues… • Causes, consequences, manifestations and indicators of both poverty and land degradation are complex and intricately linked • “People in degraded areas are both victims and agents of destruction” (Conacher, 1995) • “Erosion and poverty interact in a destructive cycle” (Gardner, 1996) • “Land degradation can undermine and frustrate economic development, while low levels of economic development can in turn have a strong causal impact on indicators of land degradation” (Blaikie & Brookfield, 1987)

11. “Vicious” cycle N.B. where does population increase fit in this diagram? Complex issues…

12. Complex issues… • Examine underlying issues such as tenure/access rights, regional agricultural markets, socio-cultural aspects etc. (Leach & Mearns, 1996) • Most vulnerable areas are those where the (causal) links can be seen most clearly, e.g. arid lands • 35% of global land is vulnerable to erosion, yet supports 1/5 of world’s population • 90% of poor in developing countries rely on biomass from forests for fuel (Kidd & Pimentel, 1992)

13. Cautions • Have to be cautious not to see all change as degradation • e.g. savanna environments supporting pastoralist herds are inherently unbalanced, where ecosystem dynamics are governed by climate and fire (Mortimore, 1998) • Poor farmers cannot be blamed for trying to survive, their poverty is limiting their ability to manage land adequately and seek alternatives • Therefore, individual cases have to be investigated in their own right

14. Example cases: • Tunisia: • Land degradation caused by degradation of soil and vegetation cover as a result of fuel-wood overharvesting, overgrazing and trampling, linked with exacerbating factors such as arid climate • Overuse a consequence of increased human population and hence animal population, coupled with the heavy socio-cultural reliance on livestock (Swearingen & Bencherifa, 1996)

15. Example cases: • Ethiopia • Millenia of subsistence agriculture on marginal, steep slopes • Increased pressure on agriculture due to population growth • Lack of resources to upgrade agricultural practices to aid soil conservation • Civil strife and lack of opportunities for alternative income generation • Increased poverty, thus increased reliance on natural resource base etc. a cycle is created

16. Example cases • Himalaya region • Need for fuel-wood, timber, settlement areas etc. • Increased need due to population increase but also rapid development toward industrialisation and export markets (policy failures) • Deforestation on steep slopes • Soil exposed to leaching, erosion, decreased productivity (Gardner, 1996)

17. Example cases • Yemen: • Human population increase/encroachment • Overexploitation of vegetation cover • Overgrazing and low rainfall • Deforestation for fuelwood and timber • Overcultivation • General fragile environment • Mis-use of water resources • Urbanisation • Leading to desertification which is seen as equal to degradation (Shidiwah, 1996)

18. Example cases • Former USSR • 1954-1962 “Virgin Lands Campaign” to increase food and raw material production • Disregard for ecosystem interactions, soil and climatic conditions • Misuse of machinery and agrochemicals • This is an example of aggressive investment of high sums of money into forcing increased profit (i.e. poverty not a direct cause) (Gardner, 1996)

19. Example cases • USA-Dustbowl • Farmers wealthy enough to invest in inputs for extensive cotton production • Again complete disregard for natural processes and soil and climatic conditions • Aggressive use of heavy machinery and agrochemicals • Soil structure destroyed - dusty, easily eroded fields left behind (Gardner, 1996)

20. Against generalisations: • Poor people can be activists against land degradation as they recognise its value as their sole livelihood base (Stocking & Morse, 1995; Broad, 1994)) • Poor are not ignorant, short-sighted squatters • Not causers but agebts forced by external circumstances (Broad, 1994) • Arguing against Brundtlands assertion that “poor are the major cause and effect of global environmental problems”