Farmscape Composition and Livelihood Sustainability in Deforested Landscapes of Colombian Amazonia

Lisset Pérez Marulanda, Patrick Lavelle, Martin Rudbeck Jepsen, Augusto Castro-Nunez, Wendy Francesconi, Karen Camilo, Martha Vanegas-Cubillos, Miguel Antonio Romero, Juan Carlos Suárez, Antonio Solarte and Marcela Quintero
Additional contact information
Lisset Pérez Marulanda: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), km 17 recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia
Patrick Lavelle: Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (Biodis), Paris Sorbonne University, 75005 Paris, France
Martin Rudbeck Jepsen: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
Augusto Castro-Nunez: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), km 17 recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia
Wendy Francesconi: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), km 17 recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia
Karen Camilo: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), km 17 recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia
Martha Vanegas-Cubillos: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), km 17 recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia
Miguel Antonio Romero: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), km 17 recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia
Juan Carlos Suárez: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de la Amazonía, Florencia, Caquetá 184010, Colombia
Antonio Solarte: Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles para la Producción Agropecuaria (CIPAV), Cali 760042, Colombia
Marcela Quintero: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), km 17 recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: In this article, we operationalized a sustainability framing based on the Sustainable Rural Livelihood Resources Framework (SLF), which consists of five capitals—human, physical, social, financial, and natural. We proposed a sustainability index (SI) for two landscapes dominated by two agricultural systems: cattle ranching and small-scale family agriculture. Farm variables within each capital were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. Key variables were identified and index values were calculated for each capital. These were combined through a set of simultaneous equations to estimate farm-specific capitals and SI from the observed farm variables. Principal component and cluster analyses were used to group the farms according to their index scores and to further compare their characteristics. Furthermore, with the purpose of comparing the index scoring with an independent metric, a landscape indicator, which comes from a continuous forest, was calculated. From the results, the capitals that contributed to a higher SI score the most were financial and physical. As cattle ranching was associated with higher economic returns and infrastructure investments, this livelihood was identified as the most sustainable. Yet, cattle ranching has been a deforestation driver in the region. These results are attributed to the current conceptual framework design, which gives greater weight to material and economic variables; therefore, it generates a weak sustainability measure. Although the framework allowed us to identify land-use alternatives that could improve SI scores (i.e., silvopastoral systems), corrections to the proposed framework and methodological approach will need to include additional environmental benefits currently unaccounted for. Farmers that use their farms for conservation purposes should be recognized and compensated. An improved environmentally focused SI operational framework could help to endorse and promote sustainable livelihoods and to generate a strong sustainability measure.

Keywords: silvopastoral system; confirmatory factor analysis; sustainable land-use; farmscape; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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