文章基本信息

标题：SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN FRAGILE LANDS
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作者：Scherr, Sara J. ; Hazell, Peter B.R.
期刊名称：Journal of Food Distribution Research
印刷版ISSN：0047-245X
出版年度：1994
期号：SUPPL
出版社：Food Distribution Research Society
摘要：Current trends in demography, agricultural production and rural environment in thedeveloping countries suggest that so-called "marginal lands" must play a larger andprobably growing role in food supply and economic development for the foreseeablefuture. To fulfill this critical role, public policy towards these lands needs to be revised.A key policy focus should be to strengthen incentives for local land users to not onlymaintain, but to improve the natural resource base for food and fiber supply. Such "land-improving investments" are needed to reduce production and subsistence risks and permitmore intensive use without degradation.Under population and market pressure, one can expect an endogenous process ofintensification, through land improvements, tenurial and institutional changes and "re-ordering" of the landscape. But this process is not automatic. Factors influencing the paceand scale of land transformation include: farmer knowledge of degradation of thedegrading resource; incentives for long-term investment; capacity to mobilize resourcesfor land investment; level of economic returns to such investment; and factors affectingthe formation and function of local groups to help mobilize resources and coordinatelandscape-level change. Current policies often work to constrain, rather than support, thisprocess. New research is needed to support policy change for "marginal" lands.