Land quality indicators and their use in sustainable agriculture and rural development

Foreword This report is ostensibly about land quality indicators (LQIs). However, anyone who reads it will find a useful compilation of advice, experience and opinion on why land quality information is important for sustainable development and how it can be used more effectively for planning and decision making. But the report also poses as many questions as it answers, which in itself reflects the diversity of viewpoints on indicators. The LQI programme is a joint initiative of FAO, UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank aimed at assisting planners and policy-makers in countries to make better use of their existing information on land quality and to promote more systematic data and information collection. There remain important questions which are unresolved. How to respond to the diverse data needs of different user groups (from farmers to politicians); the need for better understanding of linkages among biophysical, social and economic indicators; how to address issues of data aggregation, gaps in coverage, and poor data quality. Many of these will probably remain with us for some time, awaiting more research and country experience. Ms. Schomaker provides a useful overview of some of the issues relating to the use of indicators and Mr. Dumanski lays out the main elements and challenges involved in successfully implementing a land quality indicators programme at the international level. Mr. Shaxson’s paper is revealing for the very distinct and different perspectives of the farmer and the policy-maker. He makes a persuasive argument that, in the end, it is the person on the land who decides how to use it and will manage the land more carefully if he or she can experience the benefits of good land management through improved understanding and use of indicators. A final element in the report will be found in the papers by Mr. Sombroek and by Mr. Brinkman which mention the concept of resource management domains (RMD). Although not described in detail, RMDs have strong appeal as a means for overcoming the disciplinary boundaries that limit progress in developing indicators of sustainability. They offer a framework for delineating geographic areas based on identifiable biosphysical, social and economic characteristics. The areas can be village territories, a large-scale irrigation area, an undeveloped land area or may cross boundaries. Beyond the ability to link and display spatially different types of information, one attraction is that a number of the tools required for doing this type of analysis are already in hand. We hope that future work on LQIs can report on progress in applying the RMD concept. Unfortunately, it was not possible in this report to include papers on FAO work under way with respect to sustainable forest management indicators and the rural development database that is being compiled. These are two essential components of land quality and, hopefully, this gap can be filled as the work progresses. Stein Bie, Director Research, Extension and Training Division Robert Brinkman, Director, Land and Water Development Division iv Acknowledgements The idea for a meeting on land quality indicators originated with Jose Benites, Land and Water Development Division, who subsequently teamed up with Jeff Tschirley, Research, Extension and Training Division, to jointly sponsor and organize the workshop with the assistance of Alexia Baldascini. As with most efforts like this, many other persons were involved. Wim Sombroek and Stein Bie were instrumental in providing direction, support and technical opinion. Robert Brinkman and a wide array of technical officers in FAO’s Statistics, Fisheries Resources and Forest Resources Divisions, contributed much technical perspective on the subject. Many had been working directly or indirectly with indicators for some time but had not had the opportunity to meet. We regretted that, in the effort to cover much subject matter, there was not more time for in-depth discussion. Also valuable was the perspective provided by Julian Dumanski, Agriculture and Agri-Food, Canada, who with Christian Pieri of the World Bank is promoting LQI programmes, Miriam Schomaker of the United Nations Environment Programme, Roel Oldeman of the International Soil Reference and Information Centre and Francis Shaxson, a consultant with wide field experience. Serge Garcia contributed a paper to this volume on Indicators for Sustainable Development in Fisheries, a subject that could not be covered during the workshop. Each has contributed particular experience as a user or producer of land resources information. Special thanks are due to George Bokeloh for serving as the workshop facilitator and to Lynette Chalk-Contreras for her very capable and efficient preparation of the text and formatting of this document and Chrissi Redfern for the final copy editing. Jeffrey B. Tschirley, Senior Officer, Environment and Natural Resources Service, Research, Extension and Training Division Land quality indicators and their use in sustainable agriculture and rural development v Contents Page FOREWORD iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ACRONYMS vii SUMMARY REPORT AND CONCLUSIONS 1 SESSION 1: RECENT EFFORTS TO DEVELOP INDICATORS 7 Land resources evaluation and the role of land-related indicators W.G. Sombroek 9 The context of indicators in FAO S.W. Bie, A. Baldascini and J.B. Tschirley 19 Development of environmental indicators in UNEP M. Schomaker 25 Application of the pressure-state-response framework for the land quality indicators (LQI) programme J. Dumanski and C. Pieri 35 Land condition change indicators for sustainable land resource management J.R. Benites, F. Shaxson and M. Vieira 57 SESSION 2: SECTORAL ISSUES IN DEVELOPING INDICATORS 77 Global and regional databases for development of state land quality indicators: the SOTER and GLASOD approach L.R. Oldeman 79 Land quality indicators: aspects of land use, land, soil and plant nutrients R. Brinkman 95 ... - tailieumienphi.vn