Ecosystem disservices matter when valuing ecosystem benefits from small-scale arable agriculture

S. Herd-Hoare and C.M. Shackleton

Ecosystem Services, 2020, vol. 46, issue C

Abstract: The contribution of ecosystem services to smallholder agriculture is widely recognised. However, they are seldom analysed in tandem with the ecosystem disservices, such as crop weeds and pests, which the same systems produce. We do so by quantifying the provisioning ecosystem services and disservices in smallholder arable agricultural systems in three rural villages in southeastern South Africa. Using a mixed methods approach we consider the relative benefits from ecosystem services after the effects of disservices, and the management and strategies that households adopt to minimise disservices. The role of ecosystem services and disservices was expressed in economic terms to provide a common framework to assess the relative magnitude of their contribution or loss. Although crop cultivation made measurable contributions to households, disservices were prevalent and undermined livelihoods to varying degrees. Despite active management, disservices could result in complete loss of the yield. The dual character of services and disservices was observed with some ‘weeds’ considered both a service, as food, and a disservice in competing with planted crops. We emphasise the need to recognise both the positive and negative contributions of ecosystems when analysing rural livelihoods to fully grasp how rural people conceive and engage with nature in small-scale agroecological systems.

Keywords: Ecosystem disservices; Ecosystem services; Home gardens; Fields; Rural livelihoods; Valuation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:46:y:2020:i:c:s2212041620301431

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101201

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