Building resilience to climate change  through a landscape design approach

Regional Forum on Climate Change (RFCC) LOW CARBON AND CLIMATE RESILIENT SOCIETIES: BRIDGING SCIENCE, PRACTICE AND POLICY 01‐03 July, 2015 – A.I.T, Bangkok

TS13: PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES FOR 

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION 

Building resilience to climate change 

through a landscape design approach

•

Jean‐Christophe CASTELLA

Building resilience to climate change 

through a landscape design approach

Jean‐Christophe Castella, Marion Rivera, Leonor Bonnin, Sisavath Phimmasone, Pascal Lienhard, Soulikone Chaivanhna

Outline

•

The agrarian transition in the uplands of Lao PDR

•

Influencing agrarian changes

–

Conceptual framework: ecological intensification

–

Operational framework: a landscape approach to agroecology

•

Understanding village trajectories

•

Designing ‘climate smart’ landscapes

The agrarian transition in the uplands of Lao PDR

•

Changing landscapes – changing livelihoods

Swidden agriculture Subsistence farming Staple crops – little cash Forest resources ‐ NTFP Livestock as savings High poverty rate Strong social ties High biodiversity Rubber mono‐cropping Commercial crop Cash income ‐> buy rice No forest safety net Large livestock sold Better‐off farmers Individualistic behaviors Low biodiversity



The agrarian transition in the uplands of Lao PDR

•

Changing landscapes – changing vulnerabilities

Swidden

Forest Agric.

Low carbon practices Maintain biodiversity Resilience to external shocks Ecosystem  services 

Poverty, limited assets, but



Multifunctional landscapes



Traditional coping mechanisms

alternative food sources in forests and rivers, livestock,  social solidarity Socio-economic differentiation Increased population Restricted access to nat.resources Indebtness Increased return to labor & land Vulnerability to - climatic events - economic shocks Forest Agriculture Ecosystem  services Carbon sequestration Water regulation Soil conservation Biodiversity Decreasing NTFP safety net 

Better‐off, better education, 

but 

Degraded, less diverse environment



New coping mechanisms

crop specialization chemical input use indebtedness Castella J.C. et al. (2013) Effects of landscape segregation on livelihood vulnerability. Human Ecology 41(1) 63‐76.

The agrarian transition in the uplands of Lao PDR

•

Changing agricultural practices: a continuum of local situations 

between 2 unsustainable extremes

Shifting cultivation

‐ Shortening fallows 10‐12 years ‐> 3‐5 years

‐ Increased labour requirement for weeding

‐ Decreasing yields

High input monocropping

‐ Mechanization

‐ Increased use of chemical inputs

‐ Decreasing yields

•

Which alternatives?

•

Which intervention mechanisms?

Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands

Adapted from Griffon, 2013

Natural landscapes Managed landscapes

Degraded landscapes Healthy landscapes

Natural 

ecosystems

Traditional 

swidden

systems

Intensive 

monocrop 

systems

Ecological knowledge Social capital Ecosystem services - Biodiversity - Carbon Durability - resilience

Conceptual framework

Griffon M. (2013) Qu’est ce que l’agriculture écologiquement intensive ? ‐ Édition Quae, Paris

Opportunity windows

Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands

Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Managed landscapes Degraded landscapes Healthy landscapes

Natural 

ecosystems

Traditional 

swidden

systems

Intensive 

monocrop 

systems

Ecologically 

intensive 

systems

Conceptual framework

Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands

Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Managed landscapes Degraded landscapes Healthy landscapes

Natural 

ecosystems

Traditional 

swidden

systems

Intensive 

monocrop 

systems

Ecologically 

intensive 

systems

Conceptual framework

Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands

A landscape approach to agroecology

Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Managed landscapes Degraded landscapes Healthy landscapes

Natural 

ecosystems

Traditional 

swidden

systems

Intensive 

monocrop 

systems

Ecologically 

intensive 

systems

Agroecological practices

‐biomass increase and recycling ‐protect soils and biogeochemical cycles ‐optimize functional agrobiodiversity ‐harness beneficial natural interactions

Influencing agrarian changes in the uplands

A landscape approach to agroecology

Adapted from Griffon, 2013 Natural landscapes Managed landscapes Degraded landscapes Healthy landscapes

Natural 

ecosystems

Traditional 

swidden

systems

Intensive 

monocrop 

systems

Ecologically 

intensive 

systems

Landscape approach

‐understand the diversity of local contexts ‐co‐design desirable landscape ‐multicriteria evaluation of performances ‐manage different sources of knowledge

•

Diversity of villages and agricultural systems can be 

understood as a combination of a limited number of factors:

–

Geomorphology

• village located on top of hill or along river • percentage of lowland / upland

–

Accessibility

• village accessible whole year or only dry season • access to market opportunities and services

–

Population

• density and dynamics • composition (ethnic groups)

–

History

• social capital

• governance of natural resources

Upland crops (maize) Upland intensification Lowland intensification

Remote

areas

Accessible 

areas

Forest cover  Segregation agric‐forest  Soil erosion Inequalities Vegetable Tree plantations Swidden agriculture

Understanding village trajectories

Castella J.C., Lestrelin G., Buchheit P. (2012) The agrarian transition in the northern uplands of Lao PDR: A meta‐analysis of changes  in landscapes and livelihoods. 3rd International Conference on Conservation Agriculture in Southeast Asia. Hanoi

Understanding village trajectories

•

Population changes

– From 10‐15 children to 3‐4 – Better education, less arms for agriculture

•

Paddy – swidden interactions

– Objective: rice sufficiency

– Increasing paddy ‐> decreasing swidden

•

Livestock

– Savings, cash income, but

– Disease outbreaks, unpredictable losses

•

Maize (cash crops) expansion

– Increasing income ‐ indebtedness – Land degradation

•

Plantations

– Securing land tenure – Market uncertainty (mak kao, rubber, etc.)

Operational framework

HH members Labor force Paddy prod Upland rice  prod Maize prod Plantation  area Big livestock Pig Fish pond Assets Farm inc off‐farm inc Rich Medium Poor ‐1 ‐0,75 ‐0,5 ‐0,25 0 0,25 0,5 0,75 1 ‐1 ‐0,75 ‐0,5 ‐0,25 0 0,25 0,5 0,75 1 F2  (16,46  %) F1 (27,69 %)

e.g. Vangseng village

Understanding village trajectories

+ household surveys

+ focus group discussions

Data analysis

Typology of land 

use patterns and 

landscape 

management styles

Houaykay Samsoom Hadphaot Houayvat

0 5 10 15 20 25 ML AK /H H

Understanding village trajectories

Hadphaot

•

Landscape segregation

orubber concession (Chinese company), olivestock area (district policy) oconservation forest area

•

Shrinking agricultural area

oAgric. intensification in gardens oDiversification with sesame and plantation oImproved pasture for livestock 

Understanding village trajectories

Houaykai

•

Maize expansion

oroad opening for cash crops 

ouse of herbicides on maize oconversion of rice fallows odeforestation

•

Poverty trap

opoor fallow ‐> no way back to swidden rice opay debts by selling rice ‐> food insecurity oshift to off‐farm jobs and migration indebtedness land degradation

Understanding village trajectories

Samsoom

•

Population changes

omigration of several households  osearch paddy land elsewhere oless children, longer studies

•

Diversification of agric. activities

ocucumber and job’s tear in swidden fields ointerest in gardening but lack water ointensification of livestock systems ‐> need to change crop‐livestock management limited  labor force

Understanding village trajectories

Houayvat

•

Poor accessibility

olimited access to market ono road to production areas  opigeon pea – stick lak village

•

Complex landscape mosaics

oscattered cultivation by individual households olimited strength of village committee oconstraints to livestock intensification limited options  for income  generation

INTENSIFICATION

DIV ER SIFICA TION

External and 

internal pressure for 

change

Houaykai

Samsoom

Hadphaot

Houayvat

Understanding village trajectories

Designing ‘climate smart’ landscapes

2016

2015

2017

2025

Samsoom

Houayvat

Cover crops  Improved fallow  Improved  pasture  Control of  roaming animals

A landscape approach to agroecology

Take home messages

•

Complexity of agrarian changes in the uplands

‐> need for a landscape approach to agroecology innovation

•

Villages are the lower landscape management unit 

‐> relevant intervention level for sustainable intensification

•

An agrarian transition with multiple trajectories of 

villages

‐> requires specific diagnostic and intervention approaches 

o to capture the dynamics (baseline + monitoring system) o to adapt generic agroecology principles to the specificities and singular trajectory of  each village

Thank you for your attention…

Regional Forum on Climate Change (RFCC)

LOW CARBON AND CLIMATE RESILIENT SOCIETIES: BRIDGING SCIENCE, PRACTICE AND POLICY