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Stakeholder engagement has become an important aspect of sustainable natural resources management. This study analysed a landscape performance assessment by local and ‘external’ stakeholders in a transfrontier conservation area in Southern Africa. The landscape was divided into three agro-ecological zones and focus group discussions were facilitated for stakeholders to evaluate the landscape based on four ecoagriculture dimensions (production, conservation, livelihoods and institutions). The conservation dimension showed the best performance and the overall score for the landscape was 2.97, implying a fairly good performance. Perceptions and ratings did not significantly differ by age, gender or stakeholder groups. We conclude that despite their low levels of formal education and training, communal farmers can assess the performance of local landscapes in a consistent way. This study provides information about the degree to which the landscape under focus conformed to the main ecoagriculture goals and can guide development planning and extension service provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world seeks to balance biodiversity protection and food production. Transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) provide unique opportunities for strategies that combine agriculture with biodiversity conservation at a landscape level, known as ecoagriculture. We identified and consulted ecoagriculture stakeholders in a smallholder farming community within a TFCA. Data were obtained through key informant interviews and questionnaire surveys. Eighty-eight percent of key informants indicated that planned ecoagriculture was feasible in the area and 95% of interviewed farmers positively considered to plan the integration of biodiversity conservation and farming. Potential conflicts of interest were revealed among stakeholders but to a large extent, stakeholder roles and interests were complementary, creating an environment conducive to effective coordinated ecoagriculture planning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]