Understanding systemic land use dynamics in conflict-affected territories: The cases of Cesar and Caquetá, Colombia.

In the Colombian context, disputes over natural resources, mainly over land, and poor governance are intertwined with armed conflict. Although efforts to address this situation, including the 2016 peace agreement signed between Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, by Spanish acronym) are underway, these disputes continue, affecting land use dynamics. Understanding the complexity and trends in land use conflicts, as well as the specific regional characteristics underlying differing land use changes across regions, is critical. This article aims to systematically understand land use dynamics in two contrasting and conflict-affected territories in Colombia, Caquetá and Cesar, thus identifying entry points to address land-use conflicts at the regional level. To address the complexity of each regional case, we apply a methodology based on system thinking to capture the interconnections between socio-economic and environmental system components and their land use dynamics. Results depicted through causal loop diagrams not just show the cascade of environmental, social, and economic failures resulting from land use changes in these two conflict-affected territories but also suggest that land tenure systems innovations and the promotion of sustainable land use interventions at the regional level can reverse the consequences of the land use changes. Thus, future actions addressing land use conflicts must be context-dependent, tackling the root and structural causes.

Social learning as an underlying mechanism for sustainability in neglected communities: The Brazilian case of the Bucket Revolution project.

In neglected communities, waste and organic residues are not only a vector of several problems, like diseases and water pollution, but also a contributor to increasing forms of vulnerability and marginalization. At the same time, these communities also have presented innovative local initiatives and transformative learning about natural resources management that can be a vehicle for achieving more sustainable food systems. In the south of Brazil, community-based organic residue management has shown an extraordinary potential to improve food security and livelihoods for (≈1600) community members of a vulnerable urban territory. In this context, the overall objective of this article is (a) To better understand what Social Learning (SL) processes related to successful organic residues management in neglected communities exist and (b) To identify what knowledge systems are created in one empirical case. The study case is based on a communitarian waste management project, the Bucket Revolution Project (BRP). The analytical framework builds upon social learning theory and its triple-loop process focusing on four specific phenomena. The applied mixed-methods approach was made in four steps: 1. a focus group to investigate collective community issues; 2. semi-structured interviews to investigate specific and individual issues in the context of the BRP; 3. social media analysis to better understand the BRP narratives; and finally 4. participant observation in community and institutional meetings. Mainly using MaxQda software and coding indicators of SL, the data show that "Diversity of knowledge integration" is the most identified SL indicator in the interviews (52%). For BRP, identity development, community conditions improvement, and environment understanding are three key components of the knowledge system enhanced through an underlying process of social learning. Furthermore, the study also shows that there are endogenous and exogenous social learning processes at work.

Analyzing influencing factors to scale up agroforestry systems in Colombia: A comparative ex-ante assessment of cacao farming and cattle ranching in two regions.

Agroforestry systems (AFS) are proved to enhance sustainable land management. Thus, there is increasing demand for effective ways to scale up AFS so that more people can benefit. Consequently, this study assesses the scaling-up potential of agroforestry systems (AFS) using cacao farming and cattle ranching in Caquetá and Cesar, Colombia, as examples. An ex-ante assessment using the ScalA tool is conducted through interviews with AFS experts from institutions promoting AFS. Using a comparative approach, results reveal that AFS have different scaling-up potential depending on the type of farming system and location characteristics. In our case, it is slightly higher for cacao farming than for cattle ranching in both regions and it is higher in Caquetá than in Cesar for both systems. Factors hindering the scaling-up potential for both regions are economic conditions at the local and regional levels since there is a lack of stable and differentiated markets to absorb AFS products. In contrast, the scaling-up potential in both regions is increased by the factors related to the capacity of the organizations that promote AFS and the attitudes of local communities toward them. The study generates information about factors that may hinder or foster AFS scaling-up, including not just the capacities and mechanisms to promote them but also the enabling conditions. This contributes to prioritizing AFS interventions and better allocating their resources to increase their chances of successful scaling-up. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10457-022-00730-1.

Assessing impacts of COVID-19 and their responses among smallholder farmers in Brazil, Madagascar and Tanzania.

This study investigates the impacts of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholder farmers and their coping strategies in three contrasting Low- and Middle-Income Countries. The case studies include Brazil (South region), Madagascar (Atsimo Atsinanana region), and Tanzania (Morogoro/Eastern Tanzania). These countries were chosen because i) the economies are strongly influenced by the agricultural sector; ii) their national food security is strongly affected by smallholder production, and, iii) they represent a set of contrasting government responses to COVID-19 including the denial of the pandemic. Data were collected through semi-structured household interviews in all three countries in rural areas. COVID-19 induced effects were found in all three countries, including in Brazil and Tanzania where both national governments initially neglected the existence of COVID-19 and introduced few containment measures only. Here, mobility and trade restrictions of other countries impact also on agricultural trade and production in countries in which governments took less action to COVID-19 and also people remained home and practiced social distancing even if no official government policy was issued. The findings in all three countries suggest that the COVID-19 crisis had negatively affected smallholders' agricultural production, leading to a vicious cycle of low production, low incomes, and higher food insecurity. Results of this study raise the thorny issue of how best to balance containment of pandemic and future shocks against the well-being of the vulnerable rural population in lower- and middle-income countries; especially considering also the degree of global interconnected and the potential of polices to effect people beyond the national scale.

Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in Rural Tanzania: Mapping Perceptions for Social Learning.

In Tanzania, a high level of hunger persists. Several factors compound a complex scenario of food insecurity. Contextual aspects at the community level can influence the maintenance of the vulnerable local conditions. This article aims to better understand these aspects by investigating community problem perceptions in n = 04 remote rural villages in Tanzania. Furthermore, how to include community perceptions as a pedagogical element of food security projects is discussed. The methodology consists of three steps: preparatory exploration; household survey (n = 663); and pedagogical workshops (n = 270). The main results indicate that inhabitants of the four villages identify and describe their problems differently. We discovered food insecurity's hidden factors. Community problem perceptions and local knowledge play fundamental roles in critical food security, despite the environmental conditions' effect (lack of infrastructure, water scarcity). The pedagogical process of Codification and Decoding of hunger situations can generate more effective educational programs for social learning.

Resilience of Community Food Systems (CFS): Co-Design as a Long-Term Viable Pathway to Face Crises in Neglected Territories?

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on a global crisis, with impacts an ongoing food security and nutrition, exposing the vulnerabilities of our society. However, it can be a time for reflection and an opportunity to propose and stimulate initiatives that are ready to facilitate resilience within the food system. The food to fork must be shortened and diversified where it is viable and feasible, while made affordable for all societal levels. To face these challengers, the community food systems (CFS) approach has a crucial role, since it copes with relevant principles, including the necessities of low-income societies from areas particularly marginalized from mainstream food systems, of which those land areas also can pose as additional insurance just in case of occurrence of whatever crises. Systematizing the components and contributions of CFS can facilitate the advance of strategies to better deal with crises and increase resilience. Therefore, in this paper, through key elements of CFS, we propose a theoretical framework that can be applied by decision makers as a conceptual guide for combating threats to food systems in neglected territories.

Gaps in knowledge and practice on dietary consumption among rural farming households; a call for nutrition education training in Tanzania.

Dietary-related conditions are preventable only if people have better understanding of factors that underpin their dietary choices. A cross-sectional study was carried out to examine levels and gaps of nutrition knowledge and practices (KPs) of 663 mothers/caregivers in rural households of Tanzania. Results indicated that, only 14% of the population had received nutrition education prior to the survey. The mean KP score was 6.9 (±2.6) out of 20 with only 17% of the study population had KP scores above the mean. The average proportion of those who had correct responses above mean was 27% for knowledge and 22% practices. Low coverage of nutrition education and poor participation of men in nutrition education activities were frequently reported as the barriers for adoption of desirable dietary practices at households. The KP levels are far below the recommended FAO thresholds and entail high levels of nutrition illiteracy which call for immediate intervention.