Background and Objectives: Plantation forests remain a highly contested element of rural development. Successive reviews of large-scale plantations established under land concessions identify predominantly negative impacts on local farmers’ livelihoods. Although concession models of plantation development have been common in the global South, other models characterised by different forms of land tenure, labour arrangements, and plantation design have also emerged. The impacts of these models on the livelihoods of local farmers are likely to be more varied. This paper presents the results of a systematic review on the impacts of different models of plantation forests on the livelihoods of local farmers in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. Materials and Methods: Seventy-two of more than 1000 publications were identified as meeting review criteria and were assessed systematically to identify how plantation forests impacted on the natural, financial, human, physical, and social assets of proximate rural communities. Plantation models included: state forest plantations; land and land-sharing concessions; land purchase programs; and “enrolled”, contracted, and independent smallholders. Results: The results confirm those of earlier studies that land concessions delivered lasting livelihoods benefits only to few communities. A small number of positive examples among these cases demonstrate, however, that these plantation models are not necessarily detrimental to local livelihoods. Other plantation forest models, based on contract farming, land purchase, and independent smallholders have generally brought economic benefits to local people, although differentially. Research Highlights and Conclusions: Overall, this review suggests that plantation forests are not inherently positive or negative for local livelihoods, and all plantation models have the potential to contribute positively to local livelihoods. Future research on this topic needs to adopt more holistic livelihoods perspectives.

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/11/1162/pdf

Livelihood Impacts of Plantation Forests on Farmers in the Greater Mekong Subregion: A Systematic Review of Plantation Forest Models

Parametric assessment of household's food intake, agricultural practices and health in rural South West, Nigeria.

How and why are Theory of Change and Realist Evaluation used in food security contexts? A scoping review.

Considering the rapid pace of change in the digital economy, agile leadership is undeniably crucial for organizational sustainability. Within this modern business context, the critical contribution of subordinates is equally pertinent to enhance organizational competitiveness and innovation. However, whether employee underground efforts, known as bootlegging behavior, are instrumental to positive innovative objectives remains a controversial issue. Extant literature fails to account for how agile leadership impacts employees’ bootlegging behavior through the mechanisms of leadership coping dynamics. Therefore, expanding prior research, this conceptual paper aims to provide a framework through which to understand the influence of agile leadership and leadership coping dynamics on bootlegging behavior. The aim of this paper is to propose an integrative framework illustrating the linkage between agile leadership and bootlegging behavior with leadership coping dynamics as the mediator. This paper contributes to entrepreneurial behavior management by giving an insight of the significance of agile leadership and leadership coping dynamics in fostering positive outcomes of bootlegging behavior.

Agile Leadership and Bootlegging Behavior: Does Leadership Coping Dynamics Matter?

Since the liberalization of the Sino-Soviet border in 1990’s, Chinese farmers have been actively engaged in the economy of Russian Far East. Literature suggests that Chinese workers fill a labour shortage, contribute positively to local food security, with negative impacts being more socially normative and political, than economic. So far no economic empirical research exists about Chinese farmers’ presence in Russian Far East. On the basis of a panel data, an econometric model was used to analyse socio-economic impact of Chinese agribusiness entrepreneurs in Russian Far East on local households. Regression models show that presence of Chinese farmers in Russian Far East increases the probability of higher well-being, farm income, food costs and share of Chinese food purchased among Russian Far East households. These results suggest that benefits of cooperation with Chinese farmers and retailers should not be ignored when designing policies towards sustainable development of rural areas in Russian Far East. Possible environmental, social and economic externalities of further soybean production in Russian Far East are also discussed.

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Socio-economic Impact of Chinese Agribusiness Entrepreneurs in Russian Far East on Local Farmers

The study investigated the implications of large-scale land acquisition for jatropha cultivation on the livelihoods of farming households and the various coping strategies adopted. Three communities namely- Dukusen, Ananekrom and Afrisie in the Asante Akim North District were selected for the study based on their proximity to a large-scale jatropha plantation project and the extent of farming activities in the communities. The study employed the mixed method strategy using a cross-sectional study design. Interviews, focus group discussion and documentary analysis were espoused in gathering data for the study. The simple random sampling procedure was used in selecting 30 farming households whereas the managers of the plantation project and two local chiefs, two District Assemblymen, and the Headmasters of basic schools were purposively selected and interviewed. Correlation and descriptive statistical tools were used to analyze the quantitative data while recursive abstraction was applied in analyzing the qualitative aspects of the data. We found that prior to the large-scale land acquisition by the plantation project, all the respondents (100%) had farming as their livelihood activity and major source of food and income, but this had, however, dropped to 60% after the land acquisition for the jatropha project. The average farm size had also reduced from 3.5 acres per household to about 1.5 acres. These changes have triggered various coping dynamics among farming households within the study communities including all year round cropping, application of fertilizers, and cultivation of high-yielding varieties as well as petty trading activities to support household income and ensure sustainable livelihoods and wellbeing. The paper generally concludes that large-scale land acquisition has higher tendency of pushing farming households into adopting different coping strategies and dynamics. The findings reveal new dimensions of the empirical accounts on households’ coping dynamics in response to large-scale land acquisition.

Households’ Coping Dynamics in Response to Large-Scale Land Acquisition for Jatropha Plantations: Evidence from Asante Akim North District of Ghana

This study primarily presents a contribution analysis of the outcomes of the expanded forest plantation programme (EFPP) as a community-based forest governance intervention to enhance household food security. A cross sectional research design with simple random sampling technique was used to select the study sites and respondents. In all, four (4) out of ten (10) settlements implementing the EFPP in the Asante Akyim South District of Ghana were selected. Questionnaires were administered to 80 beneficiaries proportionally selected from the study sites and in-depth interviews were conducted with key stakeholders implementing the programme. The discussion of the results was informed by the theory of change analysis framework to assess the contribution of the programme to household food security. The theory of change tool helped to identify progress towards the achievement of potential and probable outcomes of the programme. The findings reveal that the availability of food crops at the household level and the district at large increased through the EFPP. Between the years 2011 and 2013, 2763.1426 Metric Tonnes (Mt) of food crops were produced from 444.4046 ha of land in the district from the programme. Also, an average of GH¢ 229 ($72) comprising both monthly allowances received for planting and nurturing trees and income derived from the sale of food crops produced increased the economic power and livelihood outcomes of beneficiaries. This has had a contributing effect on the physical availability and accessibility of food crops at the household level. Hence, scaling up the EFPP to cover many beneficiaries, and a budget allocation for the food crop production component of the programme through the provision of improved crop seeds for interplanting would promote food production and security at the household and district levels.

Simon Victory Quarcson Hamenoo

Papers

Households’ Coping Dynamics in Response to Large-Scale Land Acquisition for Jatropha Plantations: Evidence from Asante Akim North District of Ghana

Towards household food security in Ghana: assessment of Ghana’s expanded forest plantation programme in Asante Akim South District