Channelling science into policy: enabling best practices from research on land degradation and sustainable land management in dryland Africa

An integrated framework for improving watershed management planning

Proper land use and management (LUM) planning is pivotal to curbing land degradation and ensuring sustainable use of limited watershed resources. Despite decades of research and development efforts, land degradation remains a serious environmental problem in many parts of the world. Issues regarding the sustainability of current LUM initiatives are due to poor linkages between the ecological and socio-economic dimensions of LUM decisions, and an integrated framework allowing LUM interventions to be properly planned and implemented is lacking. In this study, we developed an integrated framework to identify, evaluate, and propose LUM alternatives with ecological and socio-economic benefits. The framework comprises six components: (i) identification of land use problems and setting of objectives, (ii) identification of the best-performing land use-based integrated solutions, (iii) formulation of LUM alternatives and modeling of key indicators, (iv) cost-benefit analysis, (v) evaluation of the LUM alternatives with stakeholders engagement, and (vi) communication of the LUM alternatives to relevant stakeholders to obtain institutional and financial support for implementation. To demonstrate the use of this framework, we conducted a case study in the Aba Gerima watershed of the Upper Blue Nile basin in Ethiopia. This study used extensive plot- and watershed-scale observations (2015-2019) obtained under both conventional and improved sustainable land management practices. We analyzed changes in runoff, soil loss, soil organic carbon (SOC) stock, and land productivity of five LUM alternatives as compared to a baseline scenario (existing farming practices). The results showed that the LUM alternatives reduced runoff by 11-71% and soil loss by 66-95%, and SOC stock and watershed-scale land productivity were improved by 36-104% and 48-134%, respectively. Evaluation of LUM alternatives by stakeholders, including land users, policy makers, and researchers, produced divergent results. In particular, land users prioritized implementation of sustainable land management practices without altering existing land uses. The integrated framework developed in this study can serve as a valuable tool for identifying, evaluating, and proposing LUM alternatives and facilitating decision-making in planning and implementation of LUM practices in watersheds experiencing land degradation.

Knowledge exchange in the implementation of National Environmental Programmes (NEPs) in China: A complex picture

Knowledge is an intrinsic element of environmental management. Understanding what kinds of knowledge are needed and how to communicate them effectively is crucial for building environmental management capacity. Despite extensive research, knowledge and its exchange are commonly considered from the viewpoint of its creators and disseminators, rather than that of its recipients. This can lead to mismatches between supply of and demand for knowledge, and futile knowledge exchange that undermines the effectiveness of interventions. Research is needed that looks carefully at the contexts and consequences of such scenarios. Addressing this gap, we examine the implementation of National Environmental Programs (NEPs) in north-western China, drawing from interviews and questionnaires with scientists, grassroots implementers, and farmers and herders, to identify what and how knowledge has been exchanged and what their perspectives are about knowledge exchange with other actors. We ascertain the positive impacts of knowledge exchange during NEP implementation, as well as the consequences when it is lacking, by analysing the interfaces and interactions between actors, seeking explanation for successes and failures. We conclude that with changing socio-ecological systems, knowledge and its exchange also need to change accordingly, extending beyond the environmental domain to integrate local socioeconomic concerns. Such efforts are necessary to improve environmental management outcomes and advance sustainable development.

Are local development plans mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture? A mixed-content analysis of medium-term development plans in semi-arid Ghana

In Africa, climate change impacts including, but not limited to, erratic rainfall and prolonged droughts are already affecting farmers’ productivity and disrupting households’ livelihoods. Following this realization are recommendations for implementing climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as adaptation and resilience pathways to address the negative ramifications of climate change impacts. While CSA mainstreaming is strong at the global and national levels, it remains a challenge at the local level. To understand CSA mainstreaming at the local level, this paper utilizes mixed-content analysis to deconstruct eleven local development plans for the 2018–2021 plan period for the Upper West Region, a semi-arid region of Ghana. Results show that CSA mainstreaming is a challenge, despite a general awareness of climate change impacts on agriculture. The plans lacked adequate data on local climate change trends and impacts leading to discrepancies among CSA problematization, development goals, objectives, and strategies—raising serious concerns about ownership and localization of CSA in semi-arid Ghana. Also, awareness of climate finance opportunities to support CSA interventions was absent in the plans. This paper suggests a review of the national guidelines for preparing local development plans by integrating resources for CSA, climate assessment and information systems, and climate finance opportunities. This should be complemented by building institutional capacity and partnerships with nongovernmental organizations as well as other development partners working on CSA at the local level.

Optimization modelling to establish false measures implemented with ex-situ plant species to control gully erosion in a monsoon-dominated region with novel in-situ measurements

Water dominated gullies formation and associated land degradation are the foremost challenges among the planners for sustainability and optimization of land resources. This type of hazardous phenomenon is utmost vulnerable due to huge loss of surface soil in the sub-tropical developing countries like India. The present study has been carried out in rugged badland topography of Garhbeta-I Community Development (C.D.) Block in eastern India for assessing the gully erosion susceptibility (GES) mapping and optimization of land use planning. The GES mapping is the first and foremost steps towards minimization this adverse affect and attaining sustainable development. In this study we also describe the importance of plantation and alternation of ex-situ tree species with in-situ species for minimizes the erosional activity. To meet our research goal here we used two prediction based machine learning algorithm (MLA) namely random forest (RF) and boosted regression tree (BRT) and one optimization model of Ecogeography based optimization (EBO). The research study also carried out by using a total of 199, in which 139 (70%) and 60 (30%) gully head-cut points were used for training and validation purposes respectively and treated as dependent factors, and twenty gully erosion conditioning factors as independent variables. These models are validated through receiver operating characteristics-area under the curve (ROC-AUC), accuracy (ACC), precision (PRE) and Kappa coefficient index analysis. The validation result showed that EBO model with the highest values of AUC-0.954, ACC-0.85, PRE-0.877 and Kappa-0.646 is the most accurate model for GES followed by BRT and RF. The outcome results should help for the sustainable development of this rugged badland topography.

Review of published evidence on knowledge translation capacity, practice and support among researchers and research institutions in low- and middle-income countries

BACKGROUND

Knowledge translation (KT) is a dynamic and iterative process that includes synthesis, dissemination, exchange and ethically sound application of knowledge to yield beneficial outcomes for society. Effective KT requires researchers to play an active role in promoting evidence uptake. This paper presents a systematised review of evidence on low- and middle-income country (LMIC) researchers' KT capacity, practice and interventions for enhancing their KT practice (support) with the aim of identifying gaps and informing future research and interventions.

METHODS

An electronic search for peer-reviewed publications focusing on LMIC researchers' KT capacity, practice and support across all academic fields, authored in English and from the earliest records available to February 2019, was conducted using PubMed and Scopus. Selected studies were appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, data pertaining to publication characteristics and study design extracted, and an a priori thematic analysis of reported research findings completed.

RESULTS

The search resulted in 334 screened articles, of which 66 met the inclusion criteria. Most (n = 43) of the articles presented original research findings, 22 were commentaries and 1 was a structured review; 47 articles reported on researchers' KT practice, 12 assessed the KT capacity of researchers or academic/research institutions and 9 reported on KT support for researchers. More than half (59%) of the articles focused on sub-Saharan Africa and the majority (91%) on health research. Most of the primary studies used the case study design (41%). The findings suggest that LMIC researchers rarely conduct KT and face a range of barriers at individual and institutional levels that limit their KT practice, including inadequate KT knowledge and skills, particularly for communicating research and interacting with research end-users, insufficient funding, and inadequate institutional guidelines, structures and incentives promoting KT practice. Furthermore, the evidence-base on effective interventions for enhancing LMIC researchers' KT practice is insufficient and largely of weak quality.

CONCLUSIONS

More high-quality research on researchers' KT capacity, practice and effective KT capacity strengthening interventions is needed. Study designs that extend beyond case studies and descriptive studies are recommended, including better designed evaluation studies, e.g. use of realist approaches, pragmatic trials, impact evaluations, implementation research and participatory action research.

Perspectives From the Science-Policy Interface in Animal Health and Welfare

The aim of this paper is to present scientific perspectives from the science-policy interface in animal health and welfare, with an emphasis on factors critical to scientific effectiveness. While there is broad acceptance of the value of scientific information to inform policy-making, interactions at the science-policy interface are not without difficulties. The literature highlights the need for scientists to build policy relevance to the research focus from the outset, to engage with policy-makers and other stakeholders throughout, to use platforms to facilitate science-policy dialogue, and to disseminate research findings appropriately. In the author's experience, there are a range of factors linked with effectiveness at the science-policy interface in animal health and welfare including a passion for public interest research, scientific independence, a commitment to scientific quality and openness, the opportunities afforded from partnership and collaboration, and an interest in strategic thinking and systems change. In an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world, an objective evidence base for policy decision-making is more important than ever. There is a need for particular attention to the value of collaboration between the natural and social sciences, a recognition among scientists and policy-makers that science is not value-free, the importance of effective communications, and the need to assess and communicate uncertainty. Further, there are particular challenges with science conducted in support of policy development for industry. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate and contribute to discussion and debate, both among scientists and between scientists and policy-makers, to increase scientific effectiveness at the science-policy interface in animal health and welfare.

Facilitating Change for Climate-Smart Agriculture through Science-Policy Engagement

Climate change impacts on agriculture have become evident, and threaten the achievement of global food security. On the other hand, the agricultural sector itself is a cause of climate change, and if actions are not taken, the sector might impede the achievement of global climate goals. Science-policy engagement efforts are crucial to ensure that scientific findings from agricultural research for development inform actions of governments, private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international development partners, accelerating progress toward global goals. However, knowledge gaps on what works limit progress. In this paper, we analyzed 34 case studies of science-policy engagement efforts, drawn from six years of agricultural research for development efforts around climate-smart agriculture by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Based on lessons derived from these case studies, we critically assessed and refined the program theory of the CCAFS program, leading to a revised and improved program theory for science-policy engagement for agriculture research for development under climate change. This program theory offers a pragmatic pathway to enhance credibility, salience and legitimacy of research, which relies on engagement (participatory and demand-driven research processes), evidence (building scientific credibility while adopting an opportunistic and flexible approach) and outreach (effective communication and capacity building).

Implementation of Environmental Flows for Intermittent River Systems: Adaptive Management and Stakeholder Participation Facilitate Implementation

Anthropogenic pressure on freshwater ecosystems is increasing, and often leading to unacceptable social-ecological outcomes. This is even more prevalent in intermittent river systems where many are already heavily modified, or human encroachment is increasing. Although adaptive management approaches have the potential to aid in providing the framework to consider the complexities of intermittent river systems and improve utility within the management of these systems, success has been variable. This paper looks at the application of an adaptive management pilot project within an environmental flows program in an intermittent stream (Tuppal Creek) in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia. The program focused on stakeholder involvement, participatory decision-making, and simple monitoring as the basis of an adaptive management approach. The approach found that by building trust and ownership through concentrating on inclusiveness and transparency, partnerships between government agencies and landholders were developed. This facilitated a willingness to accept greater risks and unintended consequences allowing implementation to occur.

Farmer Perceptions and Responses to Soil Degradation in Swaziland

Soil degradation is globally concerning due to its adverse effects on the environment and agricultural production. Much of Swaziland is at risk from degradation. This paper assesses farmer perceptions and responses to soil degradation in 2002 and 2014, focusing on two land uses that underpin rural livelihoods: arable land and rangeland areas. It uses repeat household surveys and semi-structured interviews, in two case study chiefdoms in the country's middleveld (KaBhudla and Engcayini) in the first longitudinal study of its kind. We find that observations of land degradation are perceived mainly through changes in land productivity, with chemical degradation occurring predominantly on arable land and physical degradation and erosion mainly in rangeland areas. Changes in rainfall are particularly important in determining responses. While perceptions of the causes and impacts of degradation largely concur with the scientific literature, responses were constrained by poor land availability, shorter and more unpredictable cropping seasons because of changing rains and low awareness, access to or knowledge of agricultural inputs. We suggest that sustainable arable land management can be enhanced through improved access to alternative sources of water, use of management practices that retain soil and moisture and greater access to agricultural inputs and capacity building to ensure their appropriate use. We suggest collaborative management for settlement planning that integrates soil conservation and livestock management strategies such as controlled stocking levels and rotational grazing could improve land quality in rangeland areas. Together, these approaches can help land users to better manage change. © 2016 The Authors. Land Degradation & Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Co-evolution of soil and water conservation policy and human-environment linkages in the Yellow River Basin since 1949

Policy plays a very important role in natural resource management as it lays out a government framework for guiding long-term decisions, and evolves in light of the interactions between human and environment. This paper focuses on soil and water conservation (SWC) policy in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), China. The problems, rural poverty, severe soil erosion, great sediment loads and high flood risks, are analyzed over the period of 1949-present using the Driving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework as a way to organize analysis of the evolution of SWC policy. Three stages are identified in which SWC policy interacts differently with institutional, financial and technology support. In Stage 1 (1949-1979), SWC policy focused on rural development in eroded areas and on reducing sediment loads. Local farmers were mainly responsible for SWC. The aim of Stage 2 (1980-1990) was the overall development of rural industry and SWC. A more integrated management perspective was implemented taking a small watershed as a geographic interactional unit. This approach greatly improved the efficiency of SWC activities. In Stage 3 (1991 till now), SWC has been treated as the main measure for natural resource conservation, environmental protection, disaster mitigation and agriculture development. Prevention of new degradation became a priority. The government began to be responsible for SWC, using administrative, legal and financial approaches and various technologies that made large-scale SWC engineering possible. Over the historical period considered, with the implementation of the various SWC policies, the rural economic and ecological system improved continuously while the sediment load and flood risk decreased dramatically. The findings assist in providing a historical perspective that could inform more rational, scientific and effective natural resource management going forward.

Presenting Triple-Wins? Assessing Projects That Deliver Adaptation, Mitigation and Development Co-benefits in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa

The concept of climate compatible development (CCD) is increasingly employed by donors and policy makers seeking 'triple-wins' for development, adaptation and mitigation. While CCD rhetoric is becoming more widespread, analyses drawing on empirical cases that present triple-wins are sorely lacking. We address this knowledge gap. Drawing on examples in rural sub-Saharan Africa, we provide the first glimpse into how projects that demonstrate triple-win potential are framed and presented within the scientific literature. We identify that development projects are still commonly evaluated in terms of adaptation or mitigation benefits. Few are framed according to their benefits across all three dimensions. Consequently, where triple-wins are occurring, they are likely to be under-reported. This has important implications, which underestimates the co-benefits that projects can deliver. A more robust academic evidence base for the delivery of triple-wins is necessary to encourage continued donor investment in activities offering the potential to deliver CCD.

Participatory evaluation of monitoring and modeling of sustainable land management technologies in areas prone to land degradation

Examples of sustainable land management (SLM) exist throughout the world. In many cases, SLM has largely evolved through local traditional practices and incremental experimentation rather than being adopted on the basis of scientific evidence. This means that SLM technologies are often only adopted across small areas. The DESIRE (DESertIfication mitigation and REmediation of degraded land) project combined local traditional knowledge on SLM with empirical evaluation of SLM technologies. The purpose of this was to evaluate and select options for dissemination in 16 sites across 12 countries. It involved (i) an initial workshop to evaluate stakeholder priorities (reported elsewhere), (ii) field trials/empirical modeling, and then, (iii) further stakeholder evaluation workshops. This paper focuses on workshops in which stakeholders evaluated the performance of SLM technologies based on the scientific monitoring and modeling results from 15 study sites. It analyses workshop outcomes to evaluate how scientific results affected stakeholders' perceptions of local SLM technologies. It also assessed the potential of this participatory approach in facilitating wider acceptance and implementation of SLM. In several sites, stakeholder preferences for SLM technologies changed as a consequence of empirical measurements and modeling assessments of each technology. Two workshop examples are presented in depth to: (a) explore the scientific results that triggered stakeholders to change their views; and (b) discuss stakeholders' suggestions on how the adoption of SLM technologies could be up-scaled. The overall multi-stakeholder participatory approach taken is then evaluated. It is concluded that to facilitate broad-scale adoption of SLM technologies, de-contextualized, scientific generalisations must be given local context; scientific findings must be viewed alongside traditional beliefs and both scrutinized with equal rigor; and the knowledge of all kinds of experts must be recognised and considered in decision-making about SLM, whether it has been formally codified or not. The approach presented in this paper provided this opportunity and received positive feedback from stakeholders.