Search

The unprecedented population growth and low economic diversification in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) raise questions about possible paths for demo-economic transitions. Given the limitations of the dominant macroeconomic conception of structural change for analysing economic transformations in SSA, and acknowledging the importance of rural economies in SSA, this paper argues for an alternative approach to structural change that uses the rural household as the key unit of analysis of change. Structural change is therefore impacted by the evolution of the socioeconomic reproduction patterns of rural households. To understand these households' reproduction patterns, the paper formulates an analytical framework centred on structures, institutions and their evolution. Drawing on Régulation theory, we first adjust institutional forms to rural African contexts. We then demonstrate how the income-labour nexus, integrating the social relations linked to the organisation of the production process and the modes of reproduction, is the dominant institutional form in capturing the socioeconomic reproduction of rural households. Last, to detect these emerging institutional configurations, we analyse youth transition as the critical period of households' socioeconomic reproduction that can reveal structural change.

Rural households have established various informal strategies to cope with unanticipated shocks. These existing coping strategies are receiving renewed interest, particularly in the context of climate change and in terms of the role they do, and can play, in enhancing households' adaptive capacity. An improved understanding of these strategies, and the factors that influence their application, may support the design of locally relevant adaptation strategies. We explored the nature and prevalence of unanticipated shocks, including natural hazards, experienced by households in two villages in Venda, South Africa, with the villages selected, in part, because of notable differences in precipitation. We considered the influence of shock type, and household- and location-specific characteristics, on the use of various household-level coping strategies. We report on semi-structured interviews, administered to 170 randomly selected households, and a participatory rural appraisal. Almost 90% of households reported the experience of at least one unanticipated shock over a prescribed 5-year period, with natural hazards reported by 42%. The type of shock experienced and various household-level characteristics, such as households' access to human and financial capital, influences households' coping response. Households' access to natural and social capital allowed for the protection of ex-ante coping options. Overall, our findings indicate that when possible, households actively manage their coping strategy portfolio, both in response to the shock experienced and in anticipation of future shocks. Generally, households' informal, ex-post coping options appear to be insufficiently robust for the covariate nature of natural hazards, suggesting the need for interventions that support households’ existing coping portfolio.

Ce rapport intitulé "Gabon - Vers une gestion durable de la chasse villageoise" fait partie de la série de rapports techniques du Programme de gestion durable de la faune sauvage (Sustainable Wildlife Management "SWM" Programme). Au Gabon, le SWM Programme opère au sein d'une collectivité territoriale décentralisée (département de Mulundu) dans un contexte de faible densité humaine, et où l'exploitation de la faune sauvage contribue significativement à la sécurité alimentaire et économique des populations rurales. Le SWM Programme au Gabon vise donc à promouvoir une gestion durable de la chasse villageoise et du commerce local de viande de brousse, tout en augmentant l'offre en protéines alternatives. L'objectif est de trouver un juste équilibre entre l'utilisation de la faune sauvage et sa conservation. Les enseignements tirés de cette initiative seront reproduits dans d'autres endroits du pays. Le SWM Programme est une initiative de l'Organisation des États d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (OEACP) financée par l'Union européenne (UE) et cofinancée par le Fonds français pour l'environnement mondial (FFEM) et l'Agence française de développement (AFD). Ce programme de sept ans (2017-2024) est mis en oeuvre dans 15 pays membres de l'OEACP par un consortium de partenaires incluant l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO), le Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (Cirad), le Centre de recherche forestière internationale (CIFOR) et la Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

In the dry areas of western Africa, the over-exploitation of forestry resources and the lack of tree regeneration lead to the degradation of agroforestry parklands. Such parklands could be better managed if the multiple services provided by the trees were well identified and valorized. However, there is little information on the local knowledge of' tree species regarding their functions, uses and services. Likewise, local stakeholders' perceptions of the relation between the species aptness for the above functions and uses and their functional traits is not well known. This study focuses on local knowledge of tree species in parklands of the Segou region in Mali, in order to identify specific uses or multifunctionalities that could be highlighted in improving agroforestry systems. Qualitative surveys have been carried out to identify users' perceptions of tree functions and functional traits. Findings show the possibility of classifying species by relevant functional groups, i.e. woody/timber trees, fruit/cash crop trees and trees related to livestock. Functional traits were not easily identified by farmers and the related information was difficult to analyze. Moreover, the perception of functions and traits depended on user groups (craftsmen, crop farmers, livestock farmers, traditional health practitioners, women etc.) and on agro-environmental and socio-economic contexts (activities, knowledge, means and practices). Therefore, scientific databases composed of lists of functions and traits for a given species have no generic value and must be valued depending on the context which may or may not enhance the substitutions between species for each use.

A growing number of people are entering the artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM) sector worldwide. In Madagascar, millions of individuals depend on this informal activity. Through a case study in the Alaotra‐Mangoro region of Madagascar, our research aimed to understand the “bottom‐up” dynamics and ripple effects of the sector, by looking at the realities for rural communities where inhabitants are both directly and indirectly affected by ASM. We were interested in community members' and miners' perceptions of the socio‐economic and environmental impacts of ASM, and in identifying the factors attracting people living in one of the country's agricultural hubs to this activity. Our results show a wide diversity of push and pull factors leading people to enter the sector. Although many positive impacts of ASM exist for miners and communities within the vicinity of mines, most miner participants considered themselves worse off since starting to mine, highlighting the high risk and low probability of return of ASM. ASM's potential for local and national development will remain squandered if its negative impacts continue to go unmanaged. Accounting for local contexts and the ripple effects of ASM will be crucial in achieving safety and security for miners, and to tap into the benefits it may offer communities while minimising environmental damage., Natural Resources Forum, 45 (1), ISSN:0165-0203, ISSN:1477-8947

International audience; En Tunisie, des politiques récentes cherchent à mettre en place une participation effective des populations rurales à la formulation de plans territoriaux de développement intégrant des dimensions économiques, sociales et environnementales. Le programme PACTE expérimente une démarche pilote pour mettre en oeuvre cette participation dans six zones rurales, grâce à la constitution de comités de territoire. Pour préparer le travail de chaque comité, des habitants ont participé à la réalisation d’un diagnostic de leur territoire pour identifier les principaux enjeux de développement. Ensuite, ils ont formulé des propositions d’action pour répondre à ces enjeux, verbalement lors d’ateliers et, en dehors des ateliers, en utilisant des fiches mises à leur disposition puis collectées. L’article analyse les actions proposées par des habitants d’une zone d’intervention située dans le gouvernorat du Kef. L’analyse porte sur : i) les finalités de ces actions, à savoir dans quelle mesure ces actions répondent aux enjeux identifiés ; et 2) les caractéristiques de ces actions, notamment leur dimension individuelle ou collective et leur degré d’innovation. L’analyse est basée sur les comptes rendus des ateliers, les fiches de propositions d’actions collectées, et des entretiens auprès de membres d’institutions publiques de développement. Les actions proposées par les habitants couvrent l’essentiel des enjeux identifiés au cours des ateliers. Parmi les fiches remplies, ces habitants donnent la priorité à des actions individuelles et génératrices de revenu et, en particulier, à des activités qu’ils pratiquent déjà. Lors des ateliers, les participants ont envisagé des actions plus diverses, parfois innovantes, et plus souvent de nature collective. L’analyse proposée ici a permis d’identifier des opportunités pour la production de connaissances communes entre les futurs membres des comités de territoire, et entre eux et les membres des institutions publiques de développement. Le projet PACTE constitue une expérience innovante de mise en oeuvre d’une démarche participative à grande échelle pour le diagnostic territorial et la formulation de proposition d’action en zone rurale au Maghreb. La réflexion sur les méthodes et moyens à utiliser pour permettre cette participation est un chantier sur lequel il sera important de continuer à avancer dans les années à venir.

The often-cited means to reduce poverty in rural areas is to push the sustainable intensification of the agricultural sector or to favor a livelihood diversification strategy. However, rural households that invest their resources in multiple domains can achieve contrasting livelihood returns and benefits. The present paper explores the contribution of livestock activities, especially dairy, in the various livelihood strategies of rural households, based on an evaluation of revenue repartition, poverty level, and nutrient input in the diverse households, using a simulation tool at the farm household level. Our research was carried out in a case study on the viability of rural households in the governorate of Beni Suef (Middle Egypt). The results show that the diversification of activities towards cropping activities and off-farm jobs in the household contributed more to poverty reduction than dairy activities. Householders with small herds and land access benefited weakly from milk price increases and more generally, from a specialization of dairy activities due to structural constraints. This calls for identifying new rural policies for small-scale (less than 2.5ha) units that represent more than 90 percent of family farms in Egypt. Notably, new job opportunities and diversification should be developed along the agro-food value chain process.

More frequent and intense climate hazards, a predicted outcome of climate change, are likely to threaten existing livelihoods in rural communities, undermining households’ adaptive capacity. To support households’ efforts to manage and reduce this risk, there is a need to better understand the heterogeneity of risk within and between communities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revised their climate vulnerability framework to incorporate the concept of risk. This study contributes toward the operationalization of this updated framework by applying a recognized methodology to the analysis of the climate-related risk of rural households. Using a mixed-method approach, including a cluster analysis, it determined and assessed archetypical patterns of household risk. The approach was applied to 170 households in two villages, in different agroecological zones, in the Vhembe District Municipality of South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Six archetypical climate-risk profiles were identified based on differences in the core components of risk, namely, the experience of climate hazards, the degree of exposure and vulnerability, and the associated impacts. The method’s application is illustrated by interpreting the six profiles, with possible adaptation pathways suggested for each. The archetypes show how climate-related risk varies according to households’ livelihood strategies and capital endowments. There are clear site-related distinctions between the risk profiles; however, the age of the household and the gender of the household head also differentiate the profiles. These different profiles suggest the need for adaptation responses that account for these site-related differences, while still recognizing the heterogeneity of risk at the village level.

Durante o periodo de 1950 a 2000, o modelo de desenvolvimento agricola pautado no conceito da revolucao verde e voltado sobretudo para a producao de commodities permitiu um aumento significativo na producao agricola global. A partir dos anos 70, este modelo foi consolidado no Brasil e em outros paises como resultado da combinacao de politicas e estrategias dos Estados e dos grandes grupos privados. A vigencia desse modelo tem suscitado duvidas sobre as suas consequencias ambientais e socioeconomicas, particularmente quando adotado em sistemas de agricultura familiar. O trabalho tem por objetivo contribuir no debate desse tema identificando as mudancas e resistencias nas estruturas agrarias, nos sistemas agricolas e em aspectos demograficos relacionados com a difusao desse modelo e sua adocao pelos agricultores. O estudo foi realizado no estado do Parana, na Microrregiao de Toledo e no Territorio Norte Pioneiro, areas que representam a historia e a diversidade paranaense em seus aspectos de desenvolvimento socioeconomico, humano e tecnico. Baseou-se na analise de dados estatisticos de censos agropecuarios (1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1996 e 2006), censos demograficos (1970, 1980, 1991, 2000 e 2010) e nos dados de producao agricola municipal (1980-2012). Os dados foram comparados entre as duas areas e analisados em alinhamento com as mudancas observadas no estado. Observa-se uma diminuicao do numero de estabelecimentos agropecuarios e da populacao rural, com a reducao, sobretudo, do numero de jovens e de mulheres. Os resultados mostram ainda uma grande reducao no numero de estabelecimentos entre 20 a 50 ha e o crescimento do numero de estabelecimentos de ate 2 ha, consequencias das mudancas no padrao tecnologico observadas no periodo e de atribuicoes oferecidas em periodo mais recente as zonas rurais, incorporadas como espaco de moradia e lazer. Observa-se ainda a expansao do cultivo de soja em ambas as regioes, porem com modalidades diferenciadas de insercao nos sistemas agricolas e, finalmente, a permanencia dos sistemas de agricultura familiar, apesar das intensas alteracoes observadas no periodo.

Ce travail de recherche analyse les dispositifs participatifs mis en place pour contribuer à la réforme foncière rurale au Sénégal. Il porte plus particulièrement sur l'analyse d'un jeu de rôles et de simulations issu de la démarche ComMod, appelé TerriStories, conceptualisé par un chercheur français et mis en oeuvre par une ONG sénégalaise entre 2012 et 2015. Cette thèse fait d'abord une lecture historique des politiques foncières depuis l'indépendance, discutant la façon dont, aux différentes étapes, les connaissances sur les dynamiques foncières et les points de vue des acteurs du monde rural ont été ou non pris en compte et par quelles médiations. Il s'intéresse ensuite aux débats contemporains (2010-2017) et à la diversité des dispositifs mis en place, “l'offre publique de participation” incarnée par la Commission Nationale de Réforme Foncière co-existant avec des initiatives liées à des organisations paysannes et une ONG. Afin de distinguer ces dispositifs entre eux, leur “intention participative” est explicitée et mise à l'épreuve du design conceptuel du dispositif : type de public suscité, modes d'interactions privilégié, degré d'ouverture du débat et influence de celui-ci sur le processus décisionnel. Une telle analyse permet de mettre en avant l'originalité du dispositif TerriStories, dont la conception se veut émancipatrice et cherche à éviter le contrôle expert des dispositifs participatifs en offrant l'opportunité aux acteurs ruraux de débattre autour de leurs propres catégories. L'analyse de la genèse de cet outil et de sa mobilisation sur le dossier foncier permet de comprendre les ambitions délibératives qu'il prétend incarner. Les chapitres suivant mettent à l'épreuve cette ambition délibérative : d'abord en analysant la mise en oeuvre des ateliers sur le terrain, le choix des participants, la dynamique du jeu et le rôle de l'animateur ; puis en étudiant à partir des transcriptions des débats, la façon dont les joueurs échangent, argumentent et font des choix. De manière exploratoire, ce travail mobilise les théories de l'argumentation pour décrypter des séquences d'échanges, et montrer qu'il y a effectivement échanges d'arguments pour tenter de convaincre, ce qui correspond à la définition de la délibération ou, en tout cas, à l'une d'entre elles. Dans le jeu, les acteurs ruraux parviennent à se mettre d'accord sur les principes de justice qu'ils souhaiteraient pour la gouvernance des terres, et en particulier les modalités d'accueil d'investisseurs externes, un enjeu crucial des projets de réforme. Cette analyse du dispositif TerriStories montre également que la démarche a été bricolée, mise en oeuvre partiellement, et en particulier que les étapes ultérieures aux ateliers villageois, censées permettre une remontée de ces principes paysans dans les arènes de débat sur la réforme, n'ont pas pu être réalisées, ou l'ont été d'une façon qui redonne le pouvoir aux experts.

Sub-Saharan Africa has a long history of internal and international migratory movements. Migration patterns and dynamics from, to and between rural areas are profoundly differentiated across regions, and flows have considerably evolved over time. Yet, more recently, rural migration takes place in the unique situation of a major rural and urban demographic increase, which results in critical socio-economic and environmental challenges. In this context, intertwined migration drivers emerge and call for a better understanding of on-going dynamics. This working paper draws on a combination of literature review and data analysis, building on the results of the Atlas "Rural Africa in motion. Dynamics and drivers of migration South of the Sahara". This mixed approach is used to propose a conceptual framework based on past, current and future drivers of migration, then to examine observed patterns of rural migration and finally to discuss drivers' characteristics and dynamics from case studies and existing datasets.

Cet article vise a evaluer la contribution materielle et immaterielle des femmes rurales dans le cadre de la petite agriculture des arriere-pays du Maroc et notamment les contraintes qu’elles rencontrent pour depasser les difficultes d’acces aux principaux facteurs de production dont le foncier, l’eau, le credit et le conseil technique. L’activite des femmes rurales est generalement invisible, c’est-a-dire peu reconnue ou valorisee au sein de la societe, ce qui conduit a une sous-estimation de leurs contributions a l’economie et a la societe. Cela tient en grande partie a leur relative exclusion de la sphere monetaire et marchande.

In Cameroon, sustainable timber management relies on the model of large logging concession. However, over the past fifteen years, small-scale logging has become a common activity, with two different forms. First, the creation of community forests in the late 1990s allowed village associations to legally harvest, process and trade timber, almost always with the support of external actors such as NGOs or private operators. Second, individual chainsaw milling, almost always informal, has grown considerably. The article compares the economic, social and environmental impacts of these two options of small-scale logging. Although much focus has been put on community forestry over the latest two decades, it remains a marginal activity with a turnover of less than € 2 million per year and a small impact on rural economies. Conversely, informal chainsaw milling represents an annual turnover of € 93 million, with a flow of revenues around € 30 million for the benefit of rural population. From an environmental perspective, none of the two options seems to substantially conserve or degrade forest resources, but more research is needed on the issue. The chainsaw milling sector remains largely ignored by – national and international – public policies in the attempts to achieve sustainable timber management in Cameroon. Some perspectives are proposed to legalise the small-scale logging sector without reducing its current socio-economic impact on rural and urban livelihoods.

Cet article propose une grille analytique et méthodologique du lien entre migrations et développement rural au Sud à partir de la notion de système familial multilocalisé. Les stratégies de moyens d'existence et les capabilités des familles sont analysées au prisme de leur espace de mobilité et des circulations qui articulent villes et campagnes, aux échelles nationales et internationales. L'application de la grille d'analyse aux campagnes du Nicaragua permet d'en tester la pertinence.

The international debate on structural change remains focused on sector–based approaches. The discussion on rural transformation is most often limited by the same long-standing bias. In order to answer the major challenges of their demographic and economic transition, many developing countries need to address their new rural-urban dynamics and to adopt territorial-based development strategies.

International audience

Inclusive business is hailed as a win-win scenario for the development of poor communities; yet there is little insight into how these inclusive businesses work and, more importantly, for whom. This book aims for a thorough understanding of the range of inclusive businesses in agriculture by examining: the structures they implement, the actors involved, and whether they are effectively inclusive of smallholders. It presents a range of case studies and is therefore empirically based and practically oriented. By offering a critical assessment of inclusive businesses overall, it allows for a better perception of what works where, and under which conditions. It provides useful insights that will benefit smallholders, agri-businesses, support groups, policy makers and investors who are willing to promote more inclusive businesses, that foster a better integration of smallholders into commercial value-chains and a more equitable and sustainable agricultural sector.

The complexity of the drivers of rural migration in SSA makes it impossible to predict how many people will migrate, why, who they will be, or where they will go. Yet, it is possible to explore how this complex system of interdependent forces could evolve, and to engage in proactive decisions and actions. SSA rural migrants are unlikely to be in a favorable position to migrate out of Africa. This poses a great challenge for the future prosperity of the continent: migration by necessity or by choice?

Income diversification is considered one of the important household strategies for securing rural livelihoods. We investigate its patterns and determinants using data on 1,747 farm households collected in 2007-2008 from six regions in rural Senegal and Kenya. The empirical investigation shows that the regional variation in income diversification does not follow any clear patterns, with push and pull determinants acting concurrently within and between regions. Therefore, policies on income diversification need to be tailored to meet the development needs of specific regions. More generally, income diversification is significantly associated with household asset endowments, demographic factors, accessibility to rural towns, migration opportunities, and perceptions on food security.

The history of migration between rural South Mozambique and South Africa, from colonial times to independence and post-apartheid, shows how migration patterns of rural families deeply evolve over time. Shifting and relatively complex combinations of drivers, rooted in the regional political economy and a range of more local and social factors, result in a strong and sometimes very quick adaptation capacity of rural migrants. In the last 15 years, renewed migration drivers and patterns have resulted in a growing differentiation of rural livelihoods.

While high resolution spatial variables contribute to a good fit of spatially-explicit deforestation models, socio-economic processes are often beyond the scope of these models. Such a low level of interest in the socio-economic dimension of deforestation limits the relevancy of these models for decision making and may be the cause of their failure to accurately predict observed deforestation trends in the medium term. This study aims to propose a flexible methodology for taking into account multiple drivers of deforestation in tropical forested areas, where the intensity of deforestation is explicitly predicted based on socio-economic variables. By coupling a model of deforestation location based on spatial environmental variables with several sub-models of deforestation intensity based on socio-economic variables, we were able to create a map of predicted deforestation over the period 2001–2014 in French Guiana. This map was compared to a reference map for accuracy assessment, not only at the pixel scale but also over cells ranging from 1 to approx. 600 sq. km. Highly significant relationships were explicitly established between deforestation intensity and several socio-economic variables: population growth, the amount of agricultural subsidies, gold and wood production. Such a precise characterisation of socio-economic processes allows to avoid overestimation biases in high deforestation areas, suggesting a better integration of socio-economic processes in the models. While considering deforestation as a purely geographical process contributes to the creation of conservative models unable to effectively assess changes in the socio-economic and political contexts influencing deforestation trends, this explicit characterisation of the socio-economic dimension of deforestation is critical for the creation of deforestation scenarios in REDD+ projects. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In sub-Saharan Africa, domestic and international migration to African countries prevails over overseas migration. Due to the region's large rural population and the ongoing urbanization process, rural–urban migration is a prominent feature, although it actually coexists with renewed, diverse and contrasted other patterns, including rural–rural, urban–rural and circular migration. These migration dynamics reshape national and regional spaces, crafting new territorial dynamics.

Population in sub-Saharan Africa continues to grow at an unprecedented scale. This will translate into a massive expansion of the labour force, which will account for two thirds of the global increase. Both urban and rural areas are affected but, due to a delayed and stabilized pace of urbanization, population in rural areas continues to grow steadily. This results in a challenging densification of rural areas, with direct impacts on rural livelihoods, increased mobility and diversification of activities.

At the beginning of the drought in the Sahel in the 1970s and 1980s, rainfall decreased markedly, but runoff coefficients and in some cases, absolute runoff increased. This situation was due to the conversion of the land cover from natural vegetation with a low annual runoff coefficient, to cropland and bare soils, whose runoff coefficients are higher. Unless they are adapted, hydrological conceptual models, such as GR2M, are unable to reproduce this increase in runoff. Despite the varying environmental and climatic conditions of the West African Sahel, we show that it is possible to increase the performance of the GR2M model simulations by elaborating a time-varying soil water holding capacity and to incorporate this value in the annual maximum amount of water to be stored in reservoir A of the model. We looked for interactions between climate, rural society, and the environment. These interactions drive land-cover changes in the Sahel, which in turn drive the distribution of rainfall between infiltration, evaporation, and runoff and hence the water resources, which are vital in this region. We elaborated several time series of key indicators linked to these interactions. We then integrated these changes in the runoff conditions of the GR2M model through the maximum value of the reservoir capacity. We calculated annual values of water holding capacity using the annual values of four classes of land cover, natural vegetation, cultivated area, bare soil, and surface water. We then used the hydrological model with and without this time-varying soil value of A and compared the performances of the model under the two scenarios. Whatever the calibration period used, the Nash–Sutcliffe index was always greater in the case of the time-varying A time series.

The link between climate change and rural migration is complex. Several entangled, often self-reinforcing factors are at play. The combination of climatic events and other natural, social, political and economic factors affect populations living in already vulnerable and fragile environments. Understanding how climate change interacts with other migration drivers requires disentangling this complexity in order to design adaptation strategies that address the root causes of vulnerability and tackle the challenges of climate related migration.

In Madagascar, migration is mostly rural migration to other rural areas. They are driven by growing difficulties related to demographic densities and high levels of poverty. Migrants search for jobs and land, and struggle to open up new land frontiers. For spontaneous migration to be successful, a favourable environment is needed. This provides a major role to play by public policies, which can support a more balanced territorial development through the adequate provision of public goods and the improvement of land access conditions.

Mountains play a key role in the provision of nature s contributions to people (NCP) worldwide that support societies quality of life. Simultaneously, mountains are threatened by multiple drivers of change. Due to the complex interlinkages between biodiversity, quality of life and drivers of change, research on NCP in mountains requires interdisciplinary approaches. In this study, we used the conceptual framework of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the notion of NCP to determine to what extent previous research on ecosystem services in mountains has explored the different components of the IPBES conceptual framework. We conducted a systematic review of articles on ecosystem services in mountains published up to 2016 using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Descriptive statistical and network analyses were conducted to explore the level of research on the components of the IPBES framework and their interactions. Our results show that research has gradually become more interdisciplinary by studying higher number of NCP, dimensions of quality of life, and indirect drivers of change. Yet, research focusing on biodiversity, regulating NCP and direct drivers has decreased over time. Furthermore, despite the fact that research on NCP in mountains becoming more policy-oriented over time, mainly in relation to payments for ecosystem services, institutional responses remained underexplored in the reviewed studies. Finally, we discuss the relevant knowledge gaps that should be addressed in future research in order to contribute to IPBES. © 2019 Martín-López et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Dans les forêts sèches d'Afrique subsaharienne, les communautés rurales les plus exposées au risque d'insécurité alimentaire pendant les périodes de soudure alimentaire, utilisent les ressources forestières pour y faire face. Cependant dans la zone soudano-sahélienne d'Afrique de l'ouest, la savane est en train de régresser au profit des champs, où des arbres sont épargnés pour former des parcs arborés. Cette dynamique engendre un changement dans l'organisation du paysage à l'échelle du village et donc des services écosystémiques d'approvisionnement en produits forestiers disponibles. Elle rend nécessaire l'étude de l'impact de l'organisation du paysage sur la capacité des populations, notamment les plus vulnérables, à surmonter leurs difficultés alimentaires en période de soudure. Pour ce faire, deux territoires villageois très contrastés au point de vue du paysage mais comparables d'un point de vue agroclimatiques, car très proches l'un de l'autre ont été choisi afin d'étudier cette relation. La comparaison de ces deux villages nous a permis de démontrer que, quel que soit le type de paysage, les ménages les plus exposés aux risques alimentaires face à la variabilité climatique compensent les pertes de céréales alimentaires par des produits issus des arbres qui proviennent soit des formations naturelles (savanes, jachères), soit des parcs arborés, selon les types de paysages, et qui sont soit consommés, soit vendus pour acheter des céréales. Nous démontrons ainsi en région soudano-sahélienne la fonction de filet de sécurité alimentaire des arbres. Si les revenus issus des arbres ne parviennent pas à couvrir toutes les dépenses alimentaires des ménages les plus exposés au risque d'insécurité alimentaire, ils couvrent cependant les dépenses céréalières de ces ménages, ils sont la première source de revenus pour les ménages les plus vulnérables sur le plan alimentaire, très généralement détenus par les femmes, qui les utilisent pour acheter de la nourriture pendant une période de soudure alimentaire difficile. Outre le rôle de filet de sécurité alimentaire joué par les ressources forestières dans cette région, cette étude démontre également l'importance de l'organisation du paysage dans la mobilisation des produits forestiers pour surmonter la soudure alimentaire : bois et charbon là où la savane demeure encore la matrice du paysage ; noix de karité où ce sont les champs avec les parcs arborés qui en forment la matrice. Associés aux différents éléments de paysage, les droits d'accès et d'usage des ressources prennent dans cette perspective une importance toute particulière, notamment pour les ménages les plus vulnérables et pour les femmes en général. L'importance des ressources arborées et des droits d'accès des femmes à ces ressources pour surmonter les périodes de soudure alimentaire est ainsi démontrée pour la zone soudano-sahélienne du Burkina Faso. Ces résultats amènent à reconnaitre leur importance dans les politiques d'adaptation aux changements climatiques au niveau national, tout en garantissant une gestion durable de ces ressources.

Le continent africain, vaste et inégalement peuplé, a connu une forte croissance de sa population au cours des cinquante dernières années qui lui fait rattraper son déficit démographique ancien. La poursuite des dynamiques en cours se traduira par une densification du peuplement lourde de conséquences sur le rapport des hommes aux ressources naturelles, tout en renouvelant les configurations territoriales.

La croissance et la jeunesse de la population active représentent un atout considérable pour le développement de l'Afrique. Mais il s'agit aussi d'un défi majeur car l'arrivée massive des jeunes sur des marchés du travail très peu structurés est porteuse de fortes tensions. Ce défi impose des politiques publiques volontaristes ciblant la formation et l'appui aux secteurs à fort contenu en main-d'oeuvre.

[Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]GEUSI; International audience; Participatory approaches are now increasingly recognized and used as an essential element of policies and programs, especially in regards to natural resource management (NRM). Most practitioners, decision-makers and researchers having adopted participatory approaches also acknowledge the need to monitor and evaluate such approaches in order to audit their effectiveness, support decision-making or improve learning. Many manuals and frameworks exist on how to carry out monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for participatory processes. However, few provide guidelines on the selection and implementation of M&E methods, an aspect which is also often obscure in published studies, at the expense of the transparency, reliability and validity of the study. In this paper, we argue that the selection and implementation of M&E methods are particularly strategic when monitoring and evaluating a participatory process. We demonstrate that evaluators of participatory processes have to tackle a quadruple challenge when selecting and implementing methods: using mixed-methods, both qualitative and quantitative; assessing the participatory process, its outcomes, and its context; taking into account both the theory and participants' views; and being both rigorous and adaptive. The M&E of a participatory planning process in the Rwenzori Region, Uganda, is used as an example to show how these challenges unfold on the ground and how they can be tackled. Based on this example, we conclude by providing tools and strategies that can be used by evaluators to ensure that they make utile, feasible, coherent, transparent and adaptive methodological choices when monitoring and evaluating participatory processes for NRM.

The African continent is vast with an unequally distributed population. It has experienced high population growth over the last 50 years, which has corrected its former demographic deficit. If current dynamics continue, the results will be population densification, with serious implications for the relationship between people and natural resources, and changes to territorial configurations.

The working age population in Africa is young and growing in size, constituting a key asset for the development of the continent. But it is also a major challenge, as the massive influx of young people into unstructured labour markets is causing serious problems. This challenge calls for proactive public policies focusing on training and support for labour-intensive sectors.

A partir de l’exemple de la vallee du Trombetas (Para), nous analysons l’evolution des pratiques migratoires des populations forestieres d’Amazonie et leurs interactions avec certains phenomenes demographiques : decohabitation, primo-fecondite et primo-nuptialite. Aujourd’hui, la plupart des familles reussissent a frequenter la ville de facon reguliere grâce a des systemes de mobilites articulant dispersion residentielle et complementarite des fonctions au sein du menage. Chez les jeunes filles, la mobilite rurale-urbaine est frequemment motivee par l’acces aux services scolaires et s’accompagne d’une decohabitation precoce. Parallelement, on observe un rajeunissement de la fecondite.

Ouvrage disponible en ligne au format PDF : http://publications.cta.int/media/publications/downloads/1839_PDF_PYW9OuW.pdf; International audience

Although official on-the-ground environmental monitoring is absent over much of the world, many people living in these regions observe, manage, and protect their environment. The autonomous monitoring processes associated with these activities are seldom documented and appear poorly recognized by conservation professionals. We identified monitoring activities in three villages in the Mamberamo-Foja region (Mamberamo Regency) of Papua (Indonesian New Guinea). In each village we found evidence that local monitoring contributes to effective protection and deters unregulated exploitation. Although everyone gathers observations and shares information, there are also specific roles. For example, the Ijabait hereditary guardians live at strategic sites where they control access to resource-rich lakes and tributaries along the Tariku River. Often, monitoring is combined with and thus influences other activities: for example, hunting regularly includes areas judged vulnerable to incursions by neighboring communities. We identified various examples of community members intervening to prevent and deter outsiders from exploiting resources within their territories. Enforcement of rules and assessment of resource status also help prevent local overexploitation within the communities. Clearly, local people are effective in protecting large areas in a relatively natural state. We discuss the value of these autonomous monitoring and protection processes, their neglect, and the need for explicit recognition by those concerned about these people and their environments, as well as about conservation. We highlight a potential "tragedy of the unseen sentinels" when effective local protection is undermined not because these local systems are invisible, but because no one recognizes what they see.

Cet article analyse les raisons des faibles performances dans la lutte contre l'insécurité alimentaire et la pauvreté au Burkina Faso malgré les performances macroéconomiques enregistrées par le pays au cours des dernières décennies. Il analyse ensuite, à l'aide d'un modèle d'Équilibre Général Calculable, la capacité d'un investissement public dans l'agriculture à améliorer la situation actuelle des pauvres. Plusieurs éléments se conjuguent pour expliquer la persistance de la pauvreté et de l'insécurité alimentaire : la forte croissance démographique qui implique une faible croissance du PIB (Produit Intérieur Brut) par tête ; la faible contribution de l'agriculture à la croissance globale ; la persistance d'un chômage urbain ; et une répartition des fruits de la croissance peu favorable aux pauvres. L'investissement public dans l'agriculture, en augmentant la productivité dans les activités agricoles, permet des progrès en milieu rural et surtout en milieu urbain.