Hannes Jochen König

Regional impact assessment of land use scenarios in developing countries using the FoPIA approach: Findings from five case studies

The impact of land use changes on sustainable development is of increasing interest in many regions of the world. This study aimed to test the transferability of the Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment (FoPIA), which was originally developed in the European context, to developing countries, in which lack of data often prevents the use of data-driven impact assessment methods. The core aspect of FoPIA is the stakeholder-based assessment of alternative land use scenarios. Scenario impacts on regional sustainability are assessed by using a set of nine regional land use functions (LUFs), which equally cover the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The cases analysed in this study include (1) the alternative spatial planning policies around the Merapi volcano and surrounding areas of Yogyakarta City, Indonesia; (2) the large-scale afforestation of agricultural areas to reduce soil erosion in Guyuan, China; (3) the expansion of soil and water conservation measures in the Oum Zessar watershed, Tunisia; (4) the agricultural intensification and the potential for organic agriculture in Bijapur, India; and (5) the land degradation and land conflicts resulting from land division and privatisation in Narok, Kenya. All five regions are characterised by population growth, partially combined with considerable economic development, environmental degradation problems and social conflicts. Implications of the regional scenario impacts as well as methodological aspects are discussed. Overall, FoPIA proved to be a useful tool for diagnosing regional human-environment interactions and for supporting the communication and social learning process among different stakeholder groups.

Ex-ante Impact Assessments (IA) in the European Commission — an overview

Ex-ante Impact Assessment (IA) was officially introduced into European Commission (EC) policy making in 2002. It is understood as a formal procedure to analyse potential effects of new policies before their adoption. The two main drivers behind this EC initiative are the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and the Better Regulation agenda. IA is carried out on policy level by the Secretariat General of the EC.

Methods to assess farming sustainability in developing countries. A review

Sustainable agricultural development is fundamental to food security and poverty alleviation, notably in developing countries. Many development initiatives focus on the enhancement of smallholder production and productivity because the majority of poor people in developing countries live in rural areas where agriculture is the main source of livelihood. The consequences of these development initiatives need to be assessed before implementation to reduce the risk of possible negative impacts. This can be done by applying ex ante sustainability impact assessment. Here, we compare methods of assessment of sustainability impact for farming interventions. We review methodological approaches and verify whether the requirements of sustainability impact assessment theory are fulfilled. Our major points are the following: (1) main methodological approaches do not fulfill the requirements defined in the theoretical sustainability impact assessment discourse. (2) The active involvement of different stakeholder groups throughout the assessment process and the possibility of learning and exchange are fundamental to sustainability impact assessment. (3) The institutional dimension of sustainability is not yet sufficiently integrated. We therefore suggest institutional criteria and indicators to be also considered in the sustainability impact assessment framework. We argue that sustainability impact assessment, respecting the interactive involvement of all stakeholder groups throughout the whole process, is a compulsory element in project planning for a sustainable agricultural development in developing countries.

Participatory impact assessment of agricultural practices using the land use functions framework: case study from India

What do different stakeholders think of the changing trends in agricultural practices and related policies? We answer this and related questions with respect to Karnataka, an Indian state showing signs of agrarian distress. Using the participatory impact assessment (PIA) method involving farmers, researchers and voluntary workers, we assess the impact of recent policy-driven farming practices. The land use functions (LUFs) framework, which resembles the ecosystem services framework, was adapted in the PIA to address multidimensional sustainability in agricultural landscapes. During the PIAs, participants ranked LUFs in the order of their perceived importance and projected the impact of different practice–policy scenarios on chosen indicators corresponding to each LUF. Three farming scenarios, namely organic, conventional (chemically intensive) and mixed input practices were assessed for their projected impacts on selected indicators of each LUF. The LUF ranking reveals that while stakeholder priorities vary, they remain contrasting to the common policy focus of profit and productivity maximisation. Farmers value familys health and water access the most and financial services the least as functions of their land. Indicator scoring in the PIA revealed that participants rated organic practices as the most beneficial, conventional scenario as detrimental and the now prevailing mixed inputs scenario as having little impact.

Expert-based ex-ante assessments of potential social, ecological, and economic impacts of upgrading strategies for improving food security in rural Tanzania using the ScalA-FS approach

Subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are highly vulnerable to food insecurity given their low adaptive capacity against ecological and socio-economic shocks. Therefore, food security is one of their main challenges. Participatory action research across food value chains (FVCs) can help stabilize and enhance food security by developing upgrading strategies (UPS) that enhance specific aspects of crop production, post-harvest processing, marketing, income generation, and consumption. However, prior to their widespread adoption or upscaling, UPS need holistic understandings of their potential social, ecological, economic, and institutional challenges and opportunities in target areas. This article reports the application of the “ScalA-FS” tool, which assessed the potential success of selected UPS using assessment criteria developed by agricultural scientists and local farmers in a participatory process in Tanzania. This work is embedded in a larger participatory research project conducted in semi-arid and sub-humid ecological settings of the Dodoma and Morogoro regions of Tanzania. Results from the assessment of the potential impact of the UPS differed strongly between the UPS and the social, economic and environmental assessment criteria, but only slightly between semi-arid and sub-humid regions. The positive impacts of food-securing UPS centre on productivity and income generation. Rain water harvesting, fertilizer micro-dosing, optimized weeding, and promotion of kitchen gardens were expected to have the highest impacts after implementation. The ScalA-FS ex-ante assessments provide a knowledge base about potential impacts, as well as the potential bottlenecks to address during the implementation of UPS.

Developing community-based food security criteria in rural Tanzania

Food security remains a major challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa. The widely acknowledged definition of food security and its four dimensions, availability, access, utilisation and stability, are somewhat abstract in the local context of small-scale farmers. Therefore, more site-specific information on the local food situation is needed to respond to the local food security challenges. Participatory elaboration of these criteria within the rural communities is crucial. The objective of this research was to elaborate community-based criteria in four selected study villages of Tanzania. We present an adapted methodological procedure based on the so-called Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment (FoPIA). Based on a series of farmer workshops, we analysed the local understanding of food security and derived a set of food security criteria. We found that these criteria cover the three dimensions of sustainability (social, economic and environmental), while simultaneously representing the four food security dimensions, showing that rural communities think holistically and consider multiple criteria and dimensions related to food security. Our participatory methodological approach was suitable for identifying the specific development priorities that need to be addressed for improved food security in a particular locality. The locally specific food security criteria can be used for impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation and, finally, for the adaptation of development measures to local contexts.

Integrated Assessment Approach

Integrated Assessment (IA) projects are designed to produce practical and interdisciplinary results, thus the final report will differ from that of a traditional research project. The goal of IA is to summarize scientific knowledge in order to build consensus and guide decision making around a particular environmental issue. The emphasis is on collaborative work with stakeholders and analysis of existing data to help clarify the issue, rather than new experiments and data collection. The final report of an IA should: 1) describe the data and methods used, 2) explain the status, trends, causes and impacts of the issue, 3) evaluate practical strategies for addressing the issue, and 4) provide guidance for implementing new strategies.

ScalA-FS: expert-based ex-ante assessments of local requirements and success potential of upgrading strategies for improving food security in rural Tanzania

Enhancing food security is the main goal of subsistence farmers, who are vulnerable to food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. Participatory research across food value chains (FVC) can help stabilize and enhance food security by developing upgrading strategies (UPS). However, prior to successful widespread adoption and geographical upscaling, such practices need in-depth understanding of their suitability in target areas and their particular local requirements. Ex-ante assessments of selected UPS were carried out by German and Tanzanian agricultural scientists using the “ScalA-FS” tool. The participating experts included those responsible for implementation. The tool aims to systematically evaluate, at the community level, UPS that have been successfully implemented elsewhere, evaluate their potential for dissemination, and identify entry points for adjustments during implementation. Assessment indicators were developed through a participatory process. UPS relate to a) natural resource management and crop production; b) food processing and bioenergy; c) income generation and market participation; and d) food consumption. Here we present the ScalA-FS assessment results on UPS suitability as well as on its implementation requirements. We focused on the local context needed to enable a productive collaboration between smallholder farmers and implementing research and/or development organizations. Implementation requirements for the selected UPS were assessed as generally low to medium, and projected suitability in most cases was high. Local knowledge and education (human capital) along with visible success after a short time were important criteria of success of UPS. Here, careful consideration of the challenges before and after implementation of UPS is suggested. ScalA-FS should be applied early in the implementation process of UPS in order to support adaptations and successful upscaling at other locations.