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Sustainable agricultural intensification in four Tanzanian villages—a view from the ground and the sky

Djurfeldt, Agnes Andersson LU ; Hall, Ola LU ; Isinika, Aida ; Msuya, Elibariki and Yengoh, Genesis Tambang LU (2020) In Sustainability (Switzerland) 12(20).
Abstract

Agricultural intensification based on smallholders is among many economists viewed as a necessary developmental path to ensure food security and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. Increasingly, a one-sided focus on raising productivity in cereals has been questioned on environmental grounds, with the concept of sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) emerging from the natural sciences as a way of advancing environmental and social needs simultaneously. SAI approaches have, however, been criticized for being both conceptually and methodologically vague. This study combines socioeconomic survey data with remotely sensed land productivity data and qualitative data from four villages in Tanzania. By triangulating and comparing... (More)

Agricultural intensification based on smallholders is among many economists viewed as a necessary developmental path to ensure food security and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. Increasingly, a one-sided focus on raising productivity in cereals has been questioned on environmental grounds, with the concept of sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) emerging from the natural sciences as a way of advancing environmental and social needs simultaneously. SAI approaches have, however, been criticized for being both conceptually and methodologically vague. This study combines socioeconomic survey data with remotely sensed land productivity data and qualitative data from four villages in Tanzania. By triangulating and comparing data collected through ground level surveys and ground-truthing with remote sensing data, we find that this combination of methods is capable of resolving some of the theoretical and methodological vagueness found in SAI approaches. The results show the problems of relying on only one type of data when studying sustainable agricultural intensification and indicate the poor environmental outcomes of cereal monocropping, even when social outcomes may be forthcoming. We identify land use practices that can be considered both socially and environmentally sustainable. Theoretically, we contribute to a further problematization of the SAI concept.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Agricultural productivity, GIS, Interdisciplinary approaches, Smallholder agriculture, Sustainable agricultural intensification
in
Sustainability (Switzerland)
volume
12
issue
20
article number
8304
pages
20 pages
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85092918664
ISSN
2071-1050
DOI
10.3390/su12208304
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
74fc80c9-e813-4432-8718-95eaa0125673
date added to LUP
2020-11-09 07:59:29
date last changed
2022-04-19 01:42:37
@article{74fc80c9-e813-4432-8718-95eaa0125673,
  abstract     = {{<p>Agricultural intensification based on smallholders is among many economists viewed as a necessary developmental path to ensure food security and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. Increasingly, a one-sided focus on raising productivity in cereals has been questioned on environmental grounds, with the concept of sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) emerging from the natural sciences as a way of advancing environmental and social needs simultaneously. SAI approaches have, however, been criticized for being both conceptually and methodologically vague. This study combines socioeconomic survey data with remotely sensed land productivity data and qualitative data from four villages in Tanzania. By triangulating and comparing data collected through ground level surveys and ground-truthing with remote sensing data, we find that this combination of methods is capable of resolving some of the theoretical and methodological vagueness found in SAI approaches. The results show the problems of relying on only one type of data when studying sustainable agricultural intensification and indicate the poor environmental outcomes of cereal monocropping, even when social outcomes may be forthcoming. We identify land use practices that can be considered both socially and environmentally sustainable. Theoretically, we contribute to a further problematization of the SAI concept.</p>}},
  author       = {{Djurfeldt, Agnes Andersson and Hall, Ola and Isinika, Aida and Msuya, Elibariki and Yengoh, Genesis Tambang}},
  issn         = {{2071-1050}},
  keywords     = {{Agricultural productivity; GIS; Interdisciplinary approaches; Smallholder agriculture; Sustainable agricultural intensification}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  number       = {{20}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Sustainability (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Sustainable agricultural intensification in four Tanzanian villages—a view from the ground and the sky}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12208304}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/su12208304}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}