Abstract:
The integration of agriculture and biodiversity has become an
acknowledged solution to concurrently address the development
of sustainable food production systems and the preservation of
natural resources. However, there are few alternative farming systems
combining agricultural commodities with ecosystem services.
We examined the farm and landscape dynamics of an area in
South Africa which has been isolated from mainstream agriculture
for several decades. We used a time series of aerial photographs as
well as farm surveys and interviews to analyze how historical and
present trends can explain land use features. Results show that
today’s landscape is the consequence of dramatic socioeconomic
transformations that have turned original transhumant livestock
keepers into sedentary farmers. Although poverty is widespread,
we found a well-balanced landscape with a regularly increasing
tree cover and a high biodiversity potential. Beyond farm and household size, the main landscape impact factors are herd size
and management as well as soil fertility management practices,
including fallowing. We show that these conditions represent a
good potential toward a multifunctional landscape, provided the
relationships between farmers’ practices and biodiversity are better
formalized and there are tangible benefits for farmers to opt for
this approach.
Description:
This article is an updated version
of a communication presented at the symposium “Innovation and Sustainable Development
in Agriculture and Food” (Montpellier, France, June 2010) and posted as an open archive on
http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ISDA2010.