Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 15.1
Landscape view of village in High Atlas Mountains, Morocco.
While identification of socioenvironmental problems associated with use of inap-
propriate production systems is relatively easy, motivating land managers to actually
change production systems is extremely difficult. While many subsistence farmers in
lesser-scale societies are aware that farm production systems presently in use do not
produce food and fiber of sufficient quantities to feed and clothe their families, they
continue to use the same farming systems because they have few or no alternatives
to what they are presently doing. Unless barriers to adoption of conservation systems
at the farm level can be identified and removed, subsistence farmers in lesser-scale
societies will continue to exploit the land and environmental degradation will con-
tinue until cropland is no longer useful for any agricultural purpose. The primary
objectives of this chapter are to identify factors that have been demonstrated to be
significantly related with adoption of soil and water conservation production sys-
tems at the farm level in lesser-scale societies, and to propose a model designed to
increase the probability that adoption of conservation systems will occur.
15.2 SOIL CONSERVATION PRODUCTION
SYSTEMS IN LESSER-SCALE SOCIETIES
Anthony et al. (1998) argues that soil erosion will continue to exist in poor countries
because subsistence farmers have no alternative to operating small farms on sloped
land. They note that it is unrealistic to expect national governments to remove sub-
sistence farmers from highly erodible land to protect natural resources from degra-
dation because it is not politically acceptable to remove people who have no other
alternative. Social upheaval would follow such a draconian approach to resolve envi-
ronmental degradation issues. It is much more likely that governments in lesser-scale
societies will continue to provide poor farmers with ownership of land resources on
steep slopes as a means of reducing social unrest.
Providing subsistence farmers with ownership of land resources not only reduces
political upheaval, but land tenure rights also encourage land managers to invest in
