Walter Timo de Vries

Bio: Walter Timo de Vries is an academic researcher from Technische Universität München. The author has contributed to research in topics: Land tenure & Land management. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 85 publications receiving 512 citations. Previous affiliations of Walter Timo de Vries include University of Twente & International Institute of Minnesota.

The positive impacts of farm land fragmentation in Rwanda.

Abstract: Land fragmentation and land consolidation are two interrelated concepts of land management. The dominant discourse is that fragmented land ownership and land use tend to be ineffective and unwanted, and land consolidation is then a solution to this quandary. Not surprisingly, in countries such as Rwanda, the majority of the governmental strategies highlight the negative effects of fragmentation. However, the effects of land fragmentation have been dual. Its positive side has often been overlooked by policy makers and the research community. Therefore, this study investigates to which degree one can benefit from farmland fragmentation, especially in the context of food security at the household level and of climate change vulnerability. The goal of this article is to expand the current land fragmentation discourse and describe in which context specific types of land fragmentation may be just as sustainable as opting for land consolidation. The guiding hypothesis hereby is that there is a high level of fragmented land ownership yet, that physical (location, use, internal, shape and value) fragmentation acts as a risk management strategy which positively impacts the nutritional balance for food quality and food sustainability as components of food security. Conceptually, land fragmentation can be seen from multiple lenses. It can be seen as a land use concept (emphasizing variation in manner of agricultural production, variety of crops, frequency of harvesting, etc.). It can also be seen as a geodetic concept (emphasizing variation in shape and size of parcels on the one hand, and variation in land ownership on the other hand). Additionally, it can be seen as a spatial planning and intervention concept (emphasizing the urgency and need for order, structure and alignment of space). In our article we look at fragmentation (and the variation thereof) in all three ways. If within an area, the utilization, ownership, leasehold, shape, size and location of parcels and spatial policies vary more than average (as compared to a similar area), then we consider it a fragmented landscape. Once we find a case of such a landscape, then we are able to investigate why and/or under which conditions (and by which drivers) this ‘fragmented’ landscape has emerged and what are the implications. This is the main question under investigation in this research. The research relies on a mixed methods research approach via household surveys with 98 random respondents in Gashora sector, Bugesera District, Eastern province of Rwanda. The data collection included further 7 key informants’ interviews, a focus group discussion, field observations of current plot sizes and land uses, and the review of the existing literature on the topic. The findings indicate that a high level of fragmentation exists, both in terms of land ownership (visible and hidden) and physical landscape. The dominant reasons are that land users perceive this as an effective risks management strategy which would positively affect food quality, food sustainability and food security. Multiple land holdings with different shapes in different locations allow farmers to grow multiple crops with different adaptation capacities in different growing conditions (soil type, slope, microclimate variations, etc.). Furthermore, fragmentation seems to help reduce land ownership and use related conflicts despite its negative impacts on agriculture production efficiency, especially the loss of land through boundaries and the increase in boundaries related conflicts. Unlike previous studies on land fragmentation, we posit that environmental and agricultural policies should take both negative and positive impacts of land fragmentation into account equally as sustainable and resilient solutions, given the right circumstances and contexts, especially for vulnerable and food insecure areas in Rwanda.

Combining land-use planning and tenure security: a tenure responsive land-use planning approach for developing countries

Abstract: There is tenure insecurity around land ownerships and land rights in most developing countries. There are also many land-use planning projects being implemented in these countries. Often, land-use planning exists in these countries but is not formally linked with tenure security. This study argues that combining them by conducting land-use planning in a way that promotes tenure security presents a new approach. A central premise for the rationale of this intervention is that processes of land-use planning may inadvertently increase tenure security. By way of methodology, it evaluates land-use planning case studies from Africa, Asia and South America. It uses the three case study examples to build a case for making tenure security one of the major planned outcomes of a land-use planning process and provides a detailed framework for operationalising the concept. Its main contribution to the literature is that it introduces the concept of tenure responsive land-use planning.

Why Tenure Responsive Land-Use Planning Matters: Insights for Land Use Consolidation for Food Security in Rwanda

Abstract: Land use consolidation aims to address food insecurity challenges in Rwanda. However, there is contradictory evidence on whether this tool has met food security objectives or not. This study addresses two questions: How has the land use consolidation improved (or not improved) food security at the local level? How can food security challenges be addressed using a renewed approach to land use consolidation that adopts a tenure responsive land use planning procedure? We investigate these questions in Nyange Sector (in the Musanze District) of Rwanda using mixed research methods. The study generates theoretical and policy relevant outcomes. Theoretically, it links the concept of tenure responsive land-use planning to food security improvements. Policy wise, it provides an operational framework for implementing land use consolidation to make it more responsive to food security (based on tenure responsive land-use planning measures) in Rwanda.

Indicators for Measuring Spatial Justice and Land Tenure Security for Poor and Low Income Urban Dwellers

Abstract: There exist various indicators that measure land tenure security for urbanites. Most of those indicators measure the degree to which land titling promotes the security of tenure. Based on the reviewed literature, it is admitted that land titling is not a panacea to land tenure security. Measuring the degree of land tenure security should not rely only on the legalisation of landownership. This paper makes a meta-analysis and conceptual modelling to connect spatial justice and land tenure security. It discusses the potential of inclusive urban development grounded on the claim that spatial justice enhances land tenure security. A comprehensive framework of indicators which can measure the degree of land tenure security from a spatial justice lens is thereafter derived. The meta-analysis and conceptual modelling were coupled with research synthesis to perform an in-depth review and qualitative content analysis of the literature on concepts of spatial justice, land tenure security, and urban (re)development processes. This study proposes 60 indicators which measure the degree of spatial justice and land tenure security along a continuum of spatial justice and land tenure security. Those indicators provide a more holistic approach for measuring land tenure security from a spatial justice lens than the separated sets of existing indicators.

Farmland fragmentation and defragmentation nexus: Scoping the causes, impacts, and the conditions determining its management decisions

Abstract: Theoretically, both land fragmentation and consolidation (defragmentation) approaches are considered as tools of land management. However, although a large literature about the relationships among land fragmentation, land consolidation, agriculture production and crops diversification concepts exists, less is known about the linkages among the conditions determining the decisions about the adoption of these tools in a given area. This poses a major dilemmatic challenge to policy makers about whether to devise policies in favour of fragmentation conservation or defragmentation. Therefore, this study identifies the conditions under which one could opt for land fragmentation or defragmentation policies by critically reviewing the documented causal-effects relationships between different fragmentation forms and defragmentation approaches. The end goal is the development of an explicit comprehensive model indicating when, where and why farmland fragmentation can be preserved or eliminated for food security purposes within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 1, 2, 12, 13 and 15). Following the rationalist theory, the study adopts an integrative concept-centric qualitative approach which builds on the analysis of existing literature and deductive logical reasoning to create new comprehensive scientific knowledge about a topic, as an informative guidance for future research and policies. Contrary to the majority of existing literature, this study posits that farmland fragmentation is not necessarily a problem. The scenarios and extent to which it becomes problematic or beneficial are dependent on a combination of a number of local specific external circumstances, ranging from biophysical, social, economic, political, technical to agro-ecological ones. For subsistence motives, labour, risks and conflicts management, climate change adaptation and household food security purposes, both physical in terms of internal and location, and tenure fragmentation of farmland in a given heterogeneous area under the subsistence and middle-income economies can be conserved either in combination with or without agriculture intensification programs. On the other hand, both physical and tenure fragmentation of farmland under homogenous agro-ecological conditions, and physical fragmentation under heterogeneous agro-ecological conditions and strong complex economies can be revoked for the purposes of improving farm efficiency, food quantity and supply, and food security. We therefore argue that any policy to adapt the extent of farmland fragmentation should consider both the benefits and costs of such intervention in relation to the specific local context.

Machine learning

Abstract: Machine Learning is the study of methods for programming computers to learn. Computers are applied to a wide range of tasks, and for most of these it is relatively easy for programmers to design and implement the necessary software. However, there are many tasks for which this is difficult or impossible. These can be divided into four general categories. First, there are problems for which there exist no human experts. For example, in modern automated manufacturing facilities, there is a need to predict machine failures before they occur by analyzing sensor readings. Because the machines are new, there are no human experts who can be interviewed by a programmer to provide the knowledge necessary to build a computer system. A machine learning system can study recorded data and subsequent machine failures and learn prediction rules. Second, there are problems where human experts exist, but where they are unable to explain their expertise. This is the case in many perceptual tasks, such as speech recognition, hand-writing recognition, and natural language understanding. Virtually all humans exhibit expert-level abilities on these tasks, but none of them can describe the detailed steps that they follow as they perform them. Fortunately, humans can provide machines with examples of the inputs and correct outputs for these tasks, so machine learning algorithms can learn to map the inputs to the outputs. Third, there are problems where phenomena are changing rapidly. In finance, for example, people would like to predict the future behavior of the stock market, of consumer purchases, or of exchange rates. These behaviors change frequently, so that even if a programmer could construct a good predictive computer program, it would need to be rewritten frequently. A learning program can relieve the programmer of this burden by constantly modifying and tuning a set of learned prediction rules. Fourth, there are applications that need to be customized for each computer user separately. Consider, for example, a program to filter unwanted electronic mail messages. Different users will need different filters. It is unreasonable to expect each user to program his or her own rules, and it is infeasible to provide every user with a software engineer to keep the rules up-to-date. A machine learning system can learn which mail messages the user rejects and maintain the filtering rules automatically. Machine learning addresses many of the same research questions as the fields of statistics, data mining, and psychology, but with differences of emphasis. Statistics focuses on understanding the phenomena that have generated the data, often with the goal of testing different hypotheses about those phenomena. Data mining seeks to find patterns in the data that are understandable by people. Psychological studies of human learning aspire to understand the mechanisms underlying the various learning behaviors exhibited by people (concept learning, skill acquisition, strategy change, etc.).

The Production of Space

Abstract: ‘The Production of Space’, in: Frans Jacobi, Imagine, Space Poetry, Copenhagen, 1996, unpaginated.

Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches

Abstract: หนงสอเรอง การออกแบบการวจย: วธการวจยเชงคณภาพ วธการวจยเชงปรมาณ และวธการวจยแบบผสม (Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches) เปนหนงสอทเรยบเรยงเพออธบายเกยวกบความแตกตางของกระบวนทศนการวจยทง 2 แบบ ไดแก การวจย เชงปรมาณ และการวจยเชงคณภาพ และความจำเปนของประเดนปญหาการวจยทตองนำกระบวนทศนทง 2 มารวมกนหาขอคนพบเพอนำไปสผลการวจยทสามารถนำผลการวจยไปใชประโยชนไดอยางจรงมากยงขน เรยกวา “การวจยแบบผสมผสาน” ซงเปนหนงสอทอธบายวธการวจยทง 2 ประเภทไดอยางชดเจน และการรวมกนของกระบวนทศนการวจยทง 2 แบบอยางลงตว