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Using integrated landscape management to scale agroforestry: examples from Ecuador

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  • Agroforestry for Sustainable Landscape Management
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Abstract

Agroforestry is considered a foundation for multi-functional, socio-ecological landscape transformation. Landscapes where agroforestry is practiced contribute to the full range of goods and services from agriculture to natural resources needed for social and ecological sustainability. Yet the barriers to large-scale agroforestry adoption are substantial, rooted in the misalignment between risk-takers (small-scale farmers) and beneficiaries (society at large). Integrated landscape management (ILM) offers a strategy for scaling up agroforestry by mobilizing collaborative efforts among multi-sector stakeholders to address these barriers. This study explores the application of ILM strategies in agroforestry initiatives in two landscapes in Ecuador: the Chocó-Andean Bio-Corridor led by Ecuadorian society and the Agenda for Transforming Production in the Amazon project of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. The ILM framework provides the conceptual basis for analyzing processes that advance the scaling-up of agroforestry, limits to progress, prospective levers of change to unlock constraints, and partnership strategies to accelerate agroforestry development. The cases demonstrate that ILM strategies are valuable in advancing the knowledge-intensive and adaptive collaborative management processes needed to scale agroforestry adoption.

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Fig. 1

Source: (Denier et al. 2015)

Fig. 2

Source: (ATPA-RASP Project Presentation 2015)

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Notes

  1. Luisa Trujillo was the Agroforestry Specialist for ATPA for its first 3 years and was involved in its design. Jefferson Mecham was an agroforestry consultant in Ecuador who worked in the CAB for 15 years.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their appreciation to Gloria Burgoa, Fiona Rogerson, and Paul Rule, Masters of Professional Studies students in Cornell University’s Global Development program, and to Sam Bosco, Ph.D. candidate in the Horticulture Department at Cornell, for consultations and writings that contributed to our analysis. James Lassoie and Terry Tucker provided technical and institutional support for the project from the Global Development program for which we are grateful. We are grateful also to Rachel Rasmussen who contributed to the preparation of the manuscript. Finally, we thank the reviewers of the original manuscript for critical insight and thoughtful comments that strengthened the paper.

Funding

Research and publication were supported by Cornell University’s Global Development Program, its Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program and by the Hitz Family Foundation.

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Contributions

The authors contributed to the development, research, analysis, and writing of this study as follows: LB was responsible for conceptualizing the study. She and SS developed the analytical framework and methodology. Research and origination of the case studies were conducted by LT and JM, while case study analysis was performed by LB, SS, LT, and JM. LB and SS wrote the paper. MF co-developed the literature review with LB and assisted with manuscript preparation.

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Correspondence to L. Buck.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest. The co-authors previously working with the case study initiatives are no longer associated.

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Handled by Tobias Plieninger, Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen, Germany.

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Buck, L., Scherr, S., Trujillo, L. et al. Using integrated landscape management to scale agroforestry: examples from Ecuador. Sustain Sci 15, 1401–1415 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00839-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00839-1

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