Search

Introduction: Climate change poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods in low- and middle-income countries. Enhancing the sustainability of these livelihoods is crucial for ensuring food security and nutrition at both global and regional levels. This study investigates the role of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices in improving rural livelihoods in Latin America, specifically through the Climate Smart Village (CSV) approach. Methods: Our analysis involved a dataset of 267 households, comprising both adopters and non-adopters of CSA practices in CSVs across Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia. We employed multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), Gower’s metric, agglomerative clustering, partitioning around medoids (PAM), and cluster validation. Our aim was to understand how CSA practices, which include the use of agroclimatic information, soil and water management practices, and risk diversification strategies, contribute to enhancing livelihoods. We examined this in the context of the five capitals (social, natural, physical, financial, and human) of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF). Results: Our findings indicate that CSA farmers exhibit lower capital-based vulnerability compared to non-CSA farmers. This is particularly evident in the areas of social capital, as well as human and natural capital for certain CSA adopters. However, the similar performance in financial and physical capital between CSA and non-CSA farmers suggests the need for additional strategies to reduce vulnerability in these areas. We examined this through the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), which includes five capitals: social, natural, physical, financial and human. Conclusion: These findings offer a valuable framework for policy and decisionmaking processes, helping to identify which capitals and dimensions of livelihood vulnerability should be prioritized in different contexts to achieve climate resilience and sustainable development. The study advocates for continued research efforts, incorporating expanded indicators, such as gender indicators within social and human capital definitions, for a more comprehensive assessment of CSA’s impact. The application of SLF for analyzing CSA’s contribution to rural livelihoods represents a novel approach in Latin American studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism livelihood has become an essential livelihood decision for people to get rid of poverty. Under the background of the internet era, it is of great significance to study how ethnic village farm households can participate in tourism livelihood with the help of information capacity. Applying the Resource Orchestration Theory and taking Guolan Yao Village in Jiangyong County of Hunan Province as an example, this paper uses binary logistic regression model and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method to explore the mechanism of farm households' information capacity affecting their tourism livelihood. The findings are as follows: Firstly, in addition to financial capital, other livelihood capital and information capacity have a significant impact on farm households' participation in tourism livelihood. Secondly, when financial capital is lacking, farm households in ethnic villages with information capacity can unite with human capital, social capital, natural capital or physical capital to make up for the non-existent defect of financial capital and help realize tourism livelihood. Thirdly, when human capital is lacking, farm households in ethnic villages with information capacity can make up for the absence of human capital by combining natural capital, financial capital and social capital to help realize tourism livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests are increasingly recognized for their beneficial roles in human health. However, there is a debate on how forest health benefits can be accessed equitably, particularly by vulnerable forest-dependent rural communities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Access to forest health benefits is determined by a range of interconnected means, including property rights, as well as natural, physical, human, social, and financial capital. This paper presents a literature review of the roles of means of access in shaping human health effects of forests. Evidence suggests that variations in these means of access are associated with varying ability to access forest health benefits. However, existing evidence is thin, mixed, and weak. A conceptual model is then developed to provide a framework for understanding how means of access moderate the effects of forests on health in rural LMICs to guide the generation of strong evidence. The multiple interconnected factors moderating the health effects of forests at the core of the conceptual framework promote the multisectoral and transdisciplinary approaches needed to enhance equitable access to forest health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature's contributions to people (NCP) rarely originate from nature alone. Often, only by joining natural capital with forms of anthropogenic capital, NCP emerge benefitting people. Understanding how NCP are co‐produced by natural and anthropogenic capitals is needed to inform decision‐making on sustainable land‐use practices.Through a systematic review of the literature, we compile existing empirical evidence on NCP co‐production and how this evidence was arrived at. We identified 237 observations from 25 publications on anthropogenic capital indicators co‐producing NCP. The reviewed studies were conducted mainly in cropland and forest ecosystems and at the landscape level.Our results show that most evidence for co‐production exists for material NCP, with physical capital and/or human capital as main input. Interestingly, non‐material NCP relied mostly on human or social capital only, while material and regulating NCP involved multiple types of anthropogenic capital.Our findings provide guidance for future research on how to explicitly incorporate NCP co‐production to analytically assess the relationships between anthropogenic capitals and NCP provision. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Forestry Economy is the property of China Forestry Economy Magazine Agency and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study analyzed the influence of sustainable livelihood and environmental cognition on herdsmen's production behaviors on basis of logistic model. The consequences illustrated that the social capital followed by material capital, financial capital, and human capital has the greatest impact on herdsmen's production behaviors, but the natural capital played a vital role in promoting herdsmen's choice of raising breeding scale. The area and quality of grassland in herdsman families' sustainable livelihood could encourage herdsmen to increase breeding scale, while the quantity of livestock, structure of house, the number of labor, the level of education, the status of health, and the income of families could promote herdsmen to restrain the breeding scale. The cognition of policy and ecological environment also had a significant positive effect on herdsmen restraining breeding scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some Islamic groups, especially the traditional Indonesian circles, have a negative view of English. English is considered the language of infidel invaders and the language of hell. This paper aims to describe the development of society in implementing Islamic religious education while eliminating the negative impression of the use of English in Islamic societies to be an important language to be learned as a language of global communication. The research method uses the sociological phenomenological method. The results showed that the Amanah village had six social capital namely human capital, social capital, natural capital, physical capital, and financial capital and religious capital. The development strategy undertaken is to maximize religious capital by establishing religious institutions and carrying out religious activities by being given English language lessons. There are two centers of activity, namely the Baitussalam mosque and the AleC (Amanah Learning Center). Other capital that plays a significant role is social capital that is inclusive and accommodating towards migrants. Abstrak Sebagian masyarat Islam terutama kalangan tradisional Indonesia berpandangan negative terhadap bahasa Inggris. Bahsa inggris dianggap sebagai bahasa para penjajah yang kafir dan bahasa neraka. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk menggambarkan pembangunan masyarakat dalam melaksanakan pendidikan Agama Islam sekaligus menghilangkan kesan negative penggunaan bahasa Inggris di masyarakat Islam menjadi bahasa penting untuk dipelajari sebagai bahasa komunikasi global. Metode penelitian menggunakan metode fenomenologis sosiologis. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kampung Amanah memiliki enam modal sosial yaitu human capital, social capital, natural capital, physical capital dan financial capital serta religious capital. Strategi pembangunan yang dilakukan yaitu dengan memaksimalkan modal relgius dengan mendirikan institusi agama dan menjalankan kegiatan-kegiatan agama dengan diberi sisipan pelajaran bahasa Inggris. Pusat kegiatan ada dua yaitu masjid baitussalam dan AleC (Amanah Learning Center). Modal lain yang sangat berperan adalah modal sosial masyarakat yang bersikap inklusif dan akomodatif terhadap para pendatang.

Farming as a profession provides opportunities to contribute to the mission of eradicating hunger and enabling food security. Rural youth contribute to the productive labour force required for farming operations and allied enterprises. Their active participation in the entire development process is essential for the overall socio-economic development of any country. However, knowledge gain and its acceptance depend greatly on attitude, which in turn determines adoption, continuance and rejection of technologies. Keeping this in view, an attempt has been made to develop a scale for measuring the attitude of rural youth towards farming as a livelihood. Likert's method of summated rating was adopted to develop the scale. A list of 71 statements reflecting the different dimensions of the attitude of rural youth towards farming as a livelihood viz., Human capital (14), social capital (14), natural capital (15), physical capital (13) and financial capital (15) were subjected to the procedure as suggested by Likert (1932). Finally, 33 statements were retained on the scale. It will be helpful for the policymakers and administrators to analyze and understand rural youth's behaviour and to develop coping strategies for attracting and retaining rural youth in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the framework of sustainable livelihood analysis and using the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data, this paper examines the connection between livelihood assets and farmers' nutritional intake. Results show that capital endowment and nutritional intake of farmers with diversified production are greater than those who specialize; capital endowment and nutritional intake of horticultural households are greater than those who engage in agriculture. Compared with non-economically disadvantaged households, higher livelihood assets have significant association with improved fat and protein intake of economically disadvantaged households. Compared with diversified farmers, more livelihood assets have significant association with improved energy and carbohydrate intake of agricultural households. Compared with those who specialize, additional livelihood assets have significant association with improved fat and protein intake of farmers with diversified production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable Livelihoods Approach emerged in the 1980s as a new analytical approach in the field of rural development in which the rural livelihood capitals form the basis of the villagers' empowerment and their ability to get involved in their own individual and social destiny. This study aimed to answer the question that how much the importance of each type of livelihood capitals is in the Central District of Dena County in an attempt to improve rural development interventions. The statistical population of the study consisted of local experts of Central District of Dena County that involved village managers and village council members out of which 15 individuals were purposefully selected based on their accessibility. Data were collected through a questionnaire which was developed to conduct pairwise comparisons of livelihood capitals according to the ANP method. Super Decisions software was used in order to rank livelihood capitals and their sub-indexes. The results showed that from among the five types of capital, physical capital was at the first priority. In addition, human, natural and social capitals were at the second, third and fourth priorities, respectively. Finally, financial capital was in the last priority. Therefore, in planning and investing to achieve sustainable livelihood in rural areas, physical and human capital should be taken into consideration more than any other capitals.

A better understanding of farmers' energy-saving behaviors can help policy-makers to formulate effective energy policies to reduce energy consumption in rural areas. This study explores the impacts of livelihood capital on farmers' energy-saving behaviors in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China. A total of 471 questionnaires were obtained from randomly sampled households. The results show that there are differences between the implementation of different types of energy-saving behaviors. Farmers' livelihood capital plays a significant role in implementing energy-saving behaviors. Specifically, natural capital and human capital have a significantly negative effect on the implementation of energy-saving behaviors. Physical capital and social capital are conducive to implement energy-saving behaviors. The effect of financial capital varies with different energy-saving behaviors. The findings of this study can contribute to the existing body of knowledge about determinants of farmers' energy-saving behaviors by confirming the role of livelihood capital. The empirical results provide a reference for stakeholders involved in strengthening rural residents' energy-saving behaviors in developing countries like China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay aims to show how business ethics—understood as a three-level approach—can strengthen the social cohesion of a society, which is jeopardized today in many ways. In the first part, the purpose of business and the economy is explained as the creation of wealth defined as a combination of private and public wealth that includes natural, economic, human, and social capital. Special emphasis is placed on the implications of the creation of public wealth which requires institutions other than the market and motivations other than self-regarding ones. In the second part, the question of what holds a society together is discussed through different approaches: enlightened self-interest, a new game-theoretical approach, and the concept of the common good advanced by Catholic Social Teaching, followed by my own proposal. The third part presents several perspectives for business ethics to strengthen social cohesion of a society (a) by focusing on the purpose of business and the economy to create natural, economic, human, and social capital; (b) by advancing public goods that stand the test of ethical scrutiny; and (c) by securing human rights conceptualized as public goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access and use of sustainable asset can improve farmer economics status and farmers livelihood affected by capitals quantity and balance between these capitals. The main purpose of this descriptive-conductive research was to analysis sustainability asset in paddy systems of Rasht city. Statistical population of this research contained of all paddy farmers of Rasht township in 1392 (N= 84772), where sample size determines by Krejcie and Morgan sample size (n= 401). The questionnaire included 42 indicators and 13 components for five sustainable livelihoods capitals (physical, human, social, financial and natural). Content and face validity of research tool was obtained by a panel of experts. In order to obtain reliability of questionnaire, Coder- Richardson was used (0.96). The results show that human capital has highest level among five sustainable capitals. Physical capital, social capital, financial capital and natural capital ranked in order. Total component indicators for physical, human, financial, social and natural capitals calculated 1.03, 1.361, 0.866 and 0.8, respectively. This results show that improve in current capitals of rural areas would help to sustainability of paddy cultivation systems.

The number of urban poor is rapidly increasing as urban population grows. Urban vegetable production is therefore a response to the available market demand and the challenges of unemployment and food insecurity resulting from the urbanisation. The study examined the contribution of urban vegetable production to farmers’ livelihoods in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ashanti Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Based on a simple random sampling technique, 300 urban vegetable farmers were selected and interviewed. Cronbach alpha coefficient values showed high reliability and consistency of the farmers’ livelihood subscales. The study that the contribution of urban vegetable production to farmers’ livelihoods differed significantly regarding different livelihood subscales (ANOVA). Post-hoc multiple comparisons test (Dunnett’s T3) result revealed that the contribution of urban vegetable production to farmers’ mean livelihoods was generally ‘low’. However, it contributed ‘moderately high’ to their natural and physical capitals. The strength of association between farmers’ mean livelihood subscales also showed that urban vegetable production impacted differently and significantly on their livelihoods. It is recommended that Farmer Based Organisations (FBOs) should be formed to help empower and protect farmers’ from the exploitation of prospective buyers. It would also help address common challenges confronting members including high input cost, lack of credit facilities and inadequate marketing avenues.

This study analyzes the spontaneous impact of human, social and natural capital on food crop technical efficiency (TE) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Our study contributes to the literature by adopting the meta-analysis method to investigate the relationship between TE and the three groups of capitals to better shed light on the TE in SSA regions. Our results highlight that social capital is the most critical factor among the three groups of capitals in promoting farming productivity. In particular, agriculture efficiency benefits from increasing people's trust in institutions and the frequency of extension visits. Natural capital like temperature and elevation is essential in determining the farming TE in SSA regions. Outstandingly, our results also indicate that calorie intake, a proxy of labor quality, should be improved to achieve better productivity. • Social capital, such as people's trust in institutions and frequency of extension visits, is the most critical factor in promoting farming technical efficiency (TE) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). • Calorie intake, a proxy of labor quality in the SSA regions, plays a significant role in achieving better productivity improvement. • Agricultural development orientation in different SSA regions should base on their regional and climate characteristics (e.g., temperature and elevation) to properly guide farmers toward more productive agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic research at the turn of the century has been explicitly dealing with the social capital, as a special form of capital. It is a relatively new concept, which is why it is not surprising that there is no generally accepted term to denote this phenomenon. The social capital means the economic benefit of the society, which can be reached with the help of communication, cooperation, and trust among the entities in the given socio-economic environment. The social capital is most often regarded as the ability of social structures and attitudes that support them to increase the effectiveness of collective action. The social capital is a connective tissue, a glue that helps people to use available resources for creating mutual benefits. Its existence is a prerequisite for economic growth and development. The components of the social capital are social ties and networks that can be transformed into economic capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of urban poor is rapidly increasing as urban population grows. Urban vegetable production is therefore a response to the available market demand and the challenges of unemployment and food insecurity resulting from the urbanisation. The study examined the contribution of urban vegetable production to farmers' livelihoods in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ashanti Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Based on a simple random sampling technique, 300 urban vegetable farmers were selected and interviewed. Cronbach alpha coefficient values showed high reliability and consistency of the farmers' livelihood subscales. The study that the contribution of urban vegetable production to farmers' livelihoods differed significantly regarding different livelihood subscales (ANOVA). Post-hoc multiple comparisons test (Dunnett's T3) result revealed that the contribution of urban vegetable production to farmers' mean livelihoods was generally 'low'. However, it contributed 'moderately high' to their natural and physical capitals. The strength of association between farmers' mean livelihood subscales also showed that urban vegetable production impacted differently and significantly on their livelihoods. It is recommended that Farmer Based Organisations (FBOs) should be formed to help empower and protect farmers' from the exploitation of prospective buyers. It would also help address common challenges confronting members including high input cost, lack of credit facilities and inadequate marketing avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrimp fry collection has contributed to a greater scope as an alternative occupation for the livelihood of the marginal farmers at the southwest coastal belt of Khulna since 1970s. This paper attempts to find out the livelihood approach of shrimp fry collectors. In the livelihood approach, human capital, social capital, physical capital, financial capitals and natural capital are considered. All those are taken as factor of indices to come to the conclusion of shrimp culture as an alternative occupation to the livelihood of the marginal farmers of the southwest coastal belt of Khulna. The outcome shows that majority of the poorest fry collectors livelihoods are not secured for a greater part of the year. The areas can be described as 'distressed livelihoods', they face multiple vulnerabilities caused by environmental hazards, market-related risks and income uncertainties which enhance the overall threshold of vulnerability. So a policy and strategy should be adopted to improve these marginal population livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have undertaken empirical research to explore relationships between the stock of various capitals and the resilience of conservation area management committees (CAMCs)-the functional decision-making units of community-based conservation-within the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. We surveyed 190 members of 30 CAMCs during the summer of 2007, estimated the capital stocks of each CAMC, and interviewed 13 park officials to assess the degree of resilience of each CAMC during and after the Maoist insurgency (1996-2006). Multiple regression analyses suggest that human and social capital stocks are positively related to the resilience of the CAMCs. Of particular importance are themes of intracommittee trust, help networks, and the duration of members' tenure on the committees. Furthermore, natural capital stocks showed a parabolic relationship with resilience; the most resilient CAMCs had moderate amounts of natural capital under their jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Models of economic growth are typically based on the use of one or more stocks of productive assets to create goods for utility-generating consumption. The roles played by man-made capital, natural capital, and human capital have been explored in the literature, and more recently the notion of social capital has been brought to the fore. This paper provides an attempt to construct an inclusive model of growth, analyzing externalities and distortions due to market failures linked with social capital and environmental problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Beyond the death toll, the tsunami of 26 December 2004 crippled many of the livelihood assets (human, social, physical, financial and natural) available to assist those directly affected. Drawing on surveys of three villages in three districts in the south of Sri Lanka, this paper describes the livelihood asset building capacity of the fishing communities. Assessments are also made of the impact of the tsunami on coastal communities and the impact of government policy on rebuilding. A livelihood asset score was calculated for each village by comparing their strengths in capacity building. In all aspects of capital building, including human, social, financial, physical and natural capital, the fishing community in Tangalle was significantly ahead of the fishing communities in Hikkaduwa and Weligama. Experienced fishermen with better educational backgrounds had a significant influence on the capacity building of livelihood assets. Relocation and resettlement plans brought persistent uncertainty to fishermen in Hikkaduwa and Weligama and threatened to disrupt their community bonds and social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has found that Muslims score elements that are assumed to matter in determining socially responsible business behaviour less highly than people of other religions. This paper looks at whether the tenets of Islam are the reason for this lower score by comparing and contrasting the UN Global Compact's ten principles with those of Islam in the affected areas. In so doing, the paper reconstructs the principles according to their impact on social, human and natural capital and explores whether Islam is supportive of responsible behaviour in these three areas. The paper concludes that, with the possible exception of Islam's focus on personal responsibility and non-recognition of the corporation as a legal person, which could undermine the concept of corporate responsibility, there is no divergence between the tenets of the religion and the principles of the UN Global Compact. Focusing on this convergence of values could help avert the threatened ‘clash of civilizations’. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the explanatory usefulness and policy relevance of Holling's (2001) ‘adaptive cycle’ theory in exploring processes of ‘collapse,’ also called ‘release,’ and recovery in regional social-ecological systems (SESs) in Zimbabwe and Australia. We found that the adaptive cycle is useful in recognizing changes in system behavior during the various phases. However, our small sample of cases did not generally show either the sequential passage of stages or the prerelease decline in resilience that adaptive cycle theory implies. In all cases, however, the reasons for releases were apparent with hindsight. On the other hand, our examples mostly supported the proposition that resilience is controlled by slowly changing variables. Although we found the adaptive cycle, and complex system theory in general, to be useful integrating frameworks, disciplinary theories are required to explain causes and effects in specific cases. We used theories linking distribution of political power to institutional change; to investment in natural, human, social, and physical capitals; and to access to financial capital. We explored patterns of change of these capitals before, during, and after release and reorganization. Both the patterns of change and relative importance of the different capitals during reorganization varied widely, but the importation of resources from broader scales was often a key to recovery. We propose that the resilience of most regional or national SESs can be explained in these terms. The capacity to self-organize emerged from our studies as a critical source of resilience. Although rebuilding this capacity at times requires access to external resources, excessive subsidization can reduce the capacity to self-organize. The policy implication is that cross-scale subsidization should end when self-organization becomes apparent, because subsidization can increase the vulnerability of the system as a whole. When the aim is to recover without changing the system fundamentally, the focus should be upon conserving or investing in the elements of capital critical for this. If the current system is not viable, it is necessary to invest in forms of capital that will enable fundamental change. It will also be necessary to stop investing in the capitals that maintained the unviable regime. The political difficulty of doing this is why SESs so often remain maladapted to current conditions and opportunities and eventually reach the point of collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Support to farmer nurseries is classified as either “hard” referring to material inputs (tree seed, water, inoculum, tools and fencing) or “soft” (information, training and backstopping advice). Against a background of poor services for smallholder farmers in southern Africa, it was hypothesized that a number of support agents operating at the grass root level together with farmers themselves provide the different support functions needed in farmer nurseries. A study was conducted to evaluate the role of support systems in farmer nurseries in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania. Furthermore, the early tree planting impact of farmer nurseries was assessed in Malawi. Support for hard inputs came largely from single service providers, with significant and increasing contributions coming from farmers themselves. Soft inputs came from a larger diversity of providers with collaborative effort gaining importance. There is an urgent need to facilitate grassroot level support systems with larger participation from the private sector for tree seed and from the national extension services for provision of training and backstopping advice. It was noted that individual nurseries achieved larger transplanting impact, but this did not translate into higher impact at the landscape level, because group nurseries were the predominant type. Strengthening the human capital of farmers and service providers emerged as critical in increasing impact. Farmer nurseries are shown to play a number of important and interrelated functions in building natural, human and social capital. Monitoring and evaluating farmer nurseries in catalyzing these three functions should therefore receive proper attention in assessing the impact of sustainable land use systems. Policies need to be articulated to address some of the major constraints identified. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Trees play a critical role in the development of sustainable land use systems in the southern Africa region, but access to tree germplasm is limited. It was hypothesized that facilitating the establishment of farmer nurseries would promote decentralized tree seedling production in an efficient way, while at the same time provide opportunities for building natural, human and social capital. A study was conducted in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania over 2 years to analyze the productivity of farmer nurseries and their functions in sustainable development. With limited outside support, farmers produced an estimated 6.2 million tree seedlings from 1901 nurseries across the three study areas over two years. Productivity of nurseries depended greatly on access to scarce water sources during the dry season. Farmers located the majority of nurseries therefore in ecologically sensitive dambo locations and along riverbanks, both posing possible land use conflicts in the future due to increasing human populations. Farmers organized two types of nurseries, with group nurseries producing significantly fewer tree seedlings compared to individual nurseries. This was attributed to larger transaction costs associated with organization and capacity building of group nurseries. On the other hand, the success of individual nurseries appeared to depend on human and social “start-up” capital being provided by group nurseries through previous training. In the absence of rigorous valuation of the longer-term effects of both types of nurseries in building natural, human and social capital, it appears that both have a role to play in meeting local demand for tree seedlings. Results generally suggest that smallholder farmers can play a pivotal role in providing tree germplasm for the development of sustainable land use systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Economics has been defined as the science of allocation of scarce resources towards alternative ends. This definition implies that the first step in economic analysis is to determine what ends are desirable for society. Most sectors of the society would agree that sustainability is a desirable end, but there is little agreement as to what a sustainable future would look like. The University of Maryland Institute for Ecological Economics sponsored a democratic future search process designed to create a relatively detailed, shared vision of a sustainable and desirable USA in the year 2100. This paper presents the vision developed at that conference, examines the resources required to achieve the vision, and assesses the suitability of market mechanisms for allocating the required resources towards the desired ends. We find that markets are not efficient mechanisms for allocation in this case, and propose the institutions of a ‘strong democracy’ as a promising alternative. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The application of true cost accounting (TCA) at farm level requires a common framework and metric for measuring, capturing and valuing sustainability. We propose such a framework and farm metric that build on the four capitals—natural, social, human and produced—that are essential for sustainability. The framework is developed by reviewing the scientific and technical literature on various approaches and tools that have been used to measure farm sustainability. We use quantifiable aspects of sustainability in the farm metrics. The farm sustainability metrics comprise four capitals with 11 categories and 33 indicators. These indicators can be assessed using bio-physical assessment, descriptive or quantitative methods. Once this information is compiled for a farm, then some of the categories can be monetised to reflect all the costs and benefits of using state-of-the-art TCA. There is a need to establish benchmarks and standards for each of the four types of capitals and indicators for the comparison of food systems. We believe the use of this comprehensive framework and farm metrics will help to correct several deficiencies of the current food system. We conclude by highlighting the benefits and limitations in the use of farm metrics. Measuring all positive and negative externalities at farm level can shift global food systems towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the integration of sustainability in business risk management. It mentions the five drivers of sustainability which include social capital, natural capital, and human capital. Also discussed are the sustainable organizational value, risk assessment, and strategic planning in the business.

The global agenda for sustainable development includes the alleviation of poverty and hunger by developing sustainable agriculture and food systems. Intensive farming systems and its variations, such as sustainable intensification or ecological intensification, are currently being promoted as technologies that can improve agricultural productivity and reduce environmental impacts. However, these are focused only on per-hectare productivity with growing negative impacts on local culture and the environment. This study identifies the negative impacts of crop- and livestock-based farming systems on the Indo-Gangetic plains, as well as in the USA, China, and South America as an example of key challenges in global agriculture. These impacts are classified into environmental, social, economic, and health impacts. An alternative paradigm is proposed to overcome some of the shortcomings of current global agriculture. This new bottom-up paradigm is based on three indicators that are fundamental to achieve the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture and food systems. These are divided into technical, geographic, and social indicators and have been analysed for four farming systems—low-input, high-input, organic, and desired farming systems. Seven global geographic regions have been analysed in terms of their socio-economic indicators and status of agriculture in order to develop pathways for the implementation of the new paradigm. The pathway for change suggested in this paper includes a focus on research and training, policy and institutional changes, and an evaluation of the costs and benefits, and changes in production models that consider scale and sustainability metrics and include innovations in consultation with all stakeholders. This new paradigm has the potential to direct global efforts towards more local and regional solutions, which are community driven and constitute a 'bottom-up' approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the explanatory usefulness and policy relevance of Holling's (2001) "adaptive cycle" theory in exploring processes of "collapse," also called "release," and recovery in regional social-ecological systems (SESs) in Zimbabwe and Australia. We found that the adaptive cycle is useful in recognizing changes in system behavior during the various phases. However, our small sample of cases did not generally show either the sequential passage of stages or the prerelease decline in resilience that adaptive cycle theory implies. In all cases, however, the reasons for releases were apparent with hindsight. On the other hand, our examples mostly supported the proposition that resilience is controlled by slowly changing variables. Although we found the adaptive cycle, and complex system theory in general, to be useful integrating frameworks, disciplinary theories are required to explain causes and effects in specific cases. We used theories linking distribution of political power to institutional change; to investment in natural, human, social, and physical capitals; and to access to financial capital. We explored patterns of change of these capitals before, during, and after release and reorganization. Both the patterns of change and relative importance of the different capitals during reorganization varied widely, but the importation of resources from broader scales was often a key to recovery. We propose that the resilience of most regional or national SESs can be explained in these terms. The capacity to self-organize emerged from our studies as a critical source of resilience. Although rebuilding this capacity at times requires access to external resources, excessive subsidization can reduce the capacity to self-organize. The policy implication is that cross-scale subsidization should end when self-organization becomes apparent, because subsidization can increase the vulnerability of the system as a whole. When the aim is to recover without changing the system fundamentally, the focus should be upon conserving or investing in the elements of capital critical for this. If the current system is not viable, it is necessary to invest in forms of capital that will enable fundamental change. It will also be necessary to stop investing in the capitals that maintained the unviable regime. The political difficulty of doing this is why SESs so often remain maladapted to current conditions and opportunities and eventually reach the point of collapse.