ALTER - Alternative Carbon Investments in Ecosystems for Poverty Alleviation
Lead Research Organisation:
James Hutton Institute
Department Name: Ecological Sciences
Abstract
ALTER aims to demonstrate that there are real and lasting benefits for wide scale poverty alleviation, particularly for the rural poor, by tackling soil degradation at a range of spatial scales, from field to landscape, and using opportunities within agricultural as well as severely degraded land. Throughout the world, soil degradation impacts on the health, wealth and well-being of rural people in many different ways. Soils have a key supporting role in maintaining agricultural yields, water availability, water quality, resources for grazing animals and other ecosystem services. Some are perhaps less obvious but still valued such as maintaining habitats to support honey-bees and local wildlife. In Africa, soil degradation is recognised as a major constraint to alleviating poverty in rural communities. We have chosen to work in Ethiopia and Uganda where there are contrasting issues of soil degradation in mineral and organic soils are a result of agricultural land use but similar reliance in rural communities' on a range of benefits from soils.
Solutions to soil degradation are not simple and require a much better understanding of how people benefit from soils, what they stand to gain if they can improve the condition of the soils that they manage whether for crops, livestock, timber production or as semi-natural areas, what they would need to do to accomplish this and what barriers may prevent this. In parallel we need to gain better insight into the likely success of different management options to improve soils. Ultimately these options will require some form of investment whether that be via money, time, resources or other mechanisms. We will investigate the relative pros and cons of these mechanisms from the perspective of local people, organisations involved with markets for Payments for Ecosystem Services and national objectives in alleviating poverty. A broader view of carbon benefits and trading is an opportunity to invest in lasting improvements in degraded ecosystems and the livelihoods of the poor that depend on these.
All of this research and evidence building needs to be placed into the context of climate change. We need to establish that whatever might be suitable, acceptable and viable for tackling soil degradation now will have long-term benefits to local people and that these benefits will not be negated by the on-going changes to local climate.
The ALTER project is an international consortium between The James Hutton Institute (UK), University of Aberdeen (UK), Hawassa University (Ethiopia), The Ethiopian Government's Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI, Ethiopia), Carbon Foundation for East Africa (CAFEA, Uganda) and the International Water Management Institute (Nile Basin & Eastern Africa Office, Ethiopia). This team brings together natural scientists, social scientists and economists to work together with rural communities and other local decision-makers and facilitators to improve our capacity to predict how human-environment linked systems respond to incentives and other drivers change. This predictive capacity is needed to be able to explore whether different options for change could result in substantive poverty alleviation.
Solutions to soil degradation are not simple and require a much better understanding of how people benefit from soils, what they stand to gain if they can improve the condition of the soils that they manage whether for crops, livestock, timber production or as semi-natural areas, what they would need to do to accomplish this and what barriers may prevent this. In parallel we need to gain better insight into the likely success of different management options to improve soils. Ultimately these options will require some form of investment whether that be via money, time, resources or other mechanisms. We will investigate the relative pros and cons of these mechanisms from the perspective of local people, organisations involved with markets for Payments for Ecosystem Services and national objectives in alleviating poverty. A broader view of carbon benefits and trading is an opportunity to invest in lasting improvements in degraded ecosystems and the livelihoods of the poor that depend on these.
All of this research and evidence building needs to be placed into the context of climate change. We need to establish that whatever might be suitable, acceptable and viable for tackling soil degradation now will have long-term benefits to local people and that these benefits will not be negated by the on-going changes to local climate.
The ALTER project is an international consortium between The James Hutton Institute (UK), University of Aberdeen (UK), Hawassa University (Ethiopia), The Ethiopian Government's Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI, Ethiopia), Carbon Foundation for East Africa (CAFEA, Uganda) and the International Water Management Institute (Nile Basin & Eastern Africa Office, Ethiopia). This team brings together natural scientists, social scientists and economists to work together with rural communities and other local decision-makers and facilitators to improve our capacity to predict how human-environment linked systems respond to incentives and other drivers change. This predictive capacity is needed to be able to explore whether different options for change could result in substantive poverty alleviation.
Planned Impact
ALTER seeks to achieve high impact by developing and implementing a Pathways to Impact (PtI) plan that permeates and frames the expected outcomes of all project activities. This PtI has a statement of desired change, that "the overarching aim of ALTER is to establish whether investment in soil carbon can be used to alleviate poverty (in addition to or as an alternative to aboveground carbon) by restoring, enhancing or protecting the goods and services provided by ecosystems in regions where soils are degraded or under threat of degradation".
The desired change as a consequence of ALTER's outputs is that soil degradation is reversed through management to achieve short- and medium-term benefits for poverty alleviation and enhance resilience of ecosystem services, whilst local, national and international capacity to invest in soil is achieved.
The ALTER project would provide the evidence necessary for this change to be promoted by national and international organisations and to provide local people with sound knowledge of opportunities available to tackle soil degradation. We will seek to influence institutions and governance structures that most relate to poverty alleviation. These include National Development Plans and implementation of existing National Adaptation Plans of Action and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions.
The PtI is developed in collaboration with local partners and structured to utilise the Theory of Change and ESPAs Impact and Knowledge Strategies, whilst building on partners' extensive range of experience in stakeholder engagement and research support for policy. There are many opportunities for developing metrics for measuring impact within the project. These include quantifiable measurements of soil carbon, fertility, primary production and flow of ecosystem services leading to poverty alleviation. ALTER will implement a set of Ideals: Innovation: improving on existing practices and building capacity; Inclusion: harnessing the potential of partners, collaborators and wider stakeholders; Implementation: showing how 'good practice' works; Linkage: linking up with previous and existing projects and programmes and Legacy: creating practices, attitudes and organisational structures that outlast the project. We will utilise the PtI Advisory Working Group (see Pathways document) to develop these metrics as appropriate to each location to ensure appropriate coverage and relevance. Whilst ALTER will report to the Research Outcome System, we will also seek to monitor flow of data and information through relevant organisations and maintenance of networks to ascertain the impact on achievement of the Statement of Desired Change.
By engaging with multiple stakeholders, from local communities, research organisations to regional and national government, we will develop working relationships that facilitate two-way dialogues with those we seek to learn from, inform and influence. We will map out networks of stakeholders to ensure an efficient process of engagement that provides a two-way flow of information between the multiple research disciplines. This enables the identification of key actors and targeting of influence efforts to increase the probability of effective change. Engagement with stakeholders, both within ALTER and wider networks will help ensure that all opportunities to influence the contextual drivers are taken. This presents a logical sequence through which ALTER will achieve the desired impact across multiple scales.
We will develop multi-media approaches designed to suit the needs of the range of stakeholders involved. Effort will be channelled through a range of communication media: Policy engagement; Linking to other projects and initiatives; Social networking and new media; Extension services; Workshops; Master classes; Local internet; Academic; Government, planning and policy. The details of activities for each of these media are provided in the Case for Support WP4.
The desired change as a consequence of ALTER's outputs is that soil degradation is reversed through management to achieve short- and medium-term benefits for poverty alleviation and enhance resilience of ecosystem services, whilst local, national and international capacity to invest in soil is achieved.
The ALTER project would provide the evidence necessary for this change to be promoted by national and international organisations and to provide local people with sound knowledge of opportunities available to tackle soil degradation. We will seek to influence institutions and governance structures that most relate to poverty alleviation. These include National Development Plans and implementation of existing National Adaptation Plans of Action and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions.
The PtI is developed in collaboration with local partners and structured to utilise the Theory of Change and ESPAs Impact and Knowledge Strategies, whilst building on partners' extensive range of experience in stakeholder engagement and research support for policy. There are many opportunities for developing metrics for measuring impact within the project. These include quantifiable measurements of soil carbon, fertility, primary production and flow of ecosystem services leading to poverty alleviation. ALTER will implement a set of Ideals: Innovation: improving on existing practices and building capacity; Inclusion: harnessing the potential of partners, collaborators and wider stakeholders; Implementation: showing how 'good practice' works; Linkage: linking up with previous and existing projects and programmes and Legacy: creating practices, attitudes and organisational structures that outlast the project. We will utilise the PtI Advisory Working Group (see Pathways document) to develop these metrics as appropriate to each location to ensure appropriate coverage and relevance. Whilst ALTER will report to the Research Outcome System, we will also seek to monitor flow of data and information through relevant organisations and maintenance of networks to ascertain the impact on achievement of the Statement of Desired Change.
By engaging with multiple stakeholders, from local communities, research organisations to regional and national government, we will develop working relationships that facilitate two-way dialogues with those we seek to learn from, inform and influence. We will map out networks of stakeholders to ensure an efficient process of engagement that provides a two-way flow of information between the multiple research disciplines. This enables the identification of key actors and targeting of influence efforts to increase the probability of effective change. Engagement with stakeholders, both within ALTER and wider networks will help ensure that all opportunities to influence the contextual drivers are taken. This presents a logical sequence through which ALTER will achieve the desired impact across multiple scales.
We will develop multi-media approaches designed to suit the needs of the range of stakeholders involved. Effort will be channelled through a range of communication media: Policy engagement; Linking to other projects and initiatives; Social networking and new media; Extension services; Workshops; Master classes; Local internet; Academic; Government, planning and policy. The details of activities for each of these media are provided in the Case for Support WP4.
Organisations
- James Hutton Institute (Lead Research Organisation, Project Partner)
- Scotland's Rural College (Collaboration)
- Hawassa University (Project Partner)
- Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (Project Partner)
- Intnl Union for Conservation of Nature (Project Partner)
- United Nations (Project Partner)
- Government of Ethiopia (Project Partner)
- Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (Project Partner)
- Government of Uganda (Project Partner)
- Uganda Carbon Bureau (Project Partner)
- United States Department of Agriculture (Project Partner)
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (Project Partner)
Publications
Getnet K
(2017)
Ecosystem-based interventions and farm household welfare in degraded areas: Comparative evidence from Ethiopia
in Agricultural Systems
Intergovernmental Technical Panel On Soil
(2015)
Status of the World's Soil Resources
Langan C
(2018)
Tropical wetland ecosystem service assessments in East Africa; A review of approaches and challenges
in Environmental Modelling & Software
Langan C
(2019)
A wetland ecosystem service assessment tool; Development and application in a tropical peatland in Uganda
in Ecological Indicators
Milne E
(2015)
Soil carbon, multiple benefits
in Environmental Development
Minasny B
(2017)
Soil carbon 4 per mille
in Geoderma
Montanarella L
(2016)
World's soils are under threat
in SOIL
Poggio L
(2018)
Enhancing the WorldClim data set for national and regional applications
in Science of The Total Environment
Reynolds B
(2013)
Countryside Survey: National "Soil Change" 1978-2007 for Topsoils in Great Britain-Acidity, Carbon, and Total Nitrogen Status
in Vadose Zone Journal
Description | 1. restoration exclosures are primarily seen as beneficial by government and their use is being encouraged, promoted and extended, But not everyone in the local communities sees these areas as beneficial - in some areas their are disbenefits due to crop damage, wild animals and lack of access to provisions from these exclosures. How these areas are governed, in particular with access for goods and services, is key to benefiting people. 2. Improvements in soils, including soil carbon and carbon stocks, were measured from both exclosures and intensively maintained cropped soils (i.e. home gardens). 3. Soil carbon stocks in exlosure areas are not so straightforward to measure - simply following IPCC / standard methods is insufficient since it is the "growing" of the soil that greatly increases the stock rather than plant inputs alone 4. Management of agricultural soils to increase soil carbon has significant potential but the opportunities to do this (e.g. OM inputs, cover crops, etc) are limited for a number of reasons. 5. Spatial resolution of landscape scale assessments of soil carbob stocks, soil erosion risks and nutrient leaching risks (all associated with regulating services) have been improved by digital soil mapping in the Halaba region |
Exploitation Route | our results on the links between soils and people should be useful in developing practical options for soil management in SSA, |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Education Environment Government Democracy and Justice |
Description | 1. Findings from ALTER have been used by Ethiopia colleagues to support policy implementation in Sustainable Agriculture in the Southern Region, ALTER results have been used to support discussions around improving soils in the region and wider. 2. in UK, the findings from ALTER have helped frame discussions with Scottish Government on payments for ecosystem services, soil monitoring in general and specifically issues of soil carbon management. Experiences from the project have been used by project staff in SG funded projects on soil carbon and farming. 3. ALTER findings have been used to help assist UK farmers in discussions over carbon credits for soil management. This has now been integrated into an NEIRF IRF project to develop the UK Farm Soil Carbon Code. |
First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic Policy & public services |
Description | Member of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soil |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | The 24th session of the FAO's Committee on Agriculture, held in Rome on 29th September to 3rd October 2014, considered the report of the second meeting of the GSP Plenary Assembly and Endorsed the Updated World Soil Charter. |
URL | http://www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership/highlights/detail/en/c/253156/ |
Description | NERC Advanced Training "Soil Underfoot" Summer School |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | 22 RCUK and associated postgraduates students gained accreditation in "Working with Soil" Foundation skills in field soil investigation, description and interpretation" and gained wider knowledge of the multi-functionality of soils - concepts, approaches and application. 5 day intensive course at Lancaster University - run by Lancaster, James Hutton and British Society of Soil Science. |
URL | http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/sci-tech/news/002081/online-training-for-a-new-generation-of-soil-scienti... |
Description | 'Understanding the Impacts of the Current El Niño Event |
Amount | £264,498 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NEP0048301 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2016 |
End | 07/2017 |
Description | cooperative research programme |
Amount | £2,500 (GBP) |
Organisation | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 04/2015 |
End | 05/2015 |
Description | nexus network |
Amount | £450,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
Department | ESRC-DFID Joint Fund |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2016 |
End | 09/2017 |
Title | Adoption survey |
Description | Data from a household survey conducted in Halaba on barriers to adoption of soil conservation and soil fertility management. Survey was carried out as face-to-face questionnaire by trained enumerators in Amharic or Halaban, using paper questionnaire sheets for data entry. File in SPSS: Adoption data.sav; main contact: Tewodros Tefera (teferatewodros@yahoo.com) |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | used in alter modelling |
Title | Before & after harvest interviews |
Description | Two times thirty-three structured interviews (16 in Assore and 17 in Laygnaw Arsho) were conducted in April 2015 and again in November 2015 as face-to-face interviews on farming plans (April) and actual farming practices and outcomes (November). Data consist of two word documents containing the interviewees responses to each question ("before & after interviews Assore 2015", "before & after interviews Laygnaw Arsho 2015"). Main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com), anja.byg@hutton.ac.uk, paula.novo@hutton.ac.uk |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | understanding management options which have been used in subsequent modelling |
Title | Benefit-disbenefit survey |
Description | Data from a household survey conducted in Halaba on the benefits and disbenefits from restoration areas. Data were collected as face-to-face questionnaire by trained enumerators in Amharic or Halaban, using ODK/tablets. Data here: ALTER_Benefit_Disbenefit.dta, ALTER_SocioEcon_Benefit_DisBenefit.csv, main contact: Tewodros Tefera (teferatewodros@yahoo.com) |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | used in alter modelling |
Title | Choice experiment |
Description | Data from a household survey conducted in Halaba on people's preferences for different soil management options. Survey was carried out as face-to-face questionnaire by trained enumerators in Amharic or Halaban, using paper questionnaire sheets for data entry. The data set consists of three SPSS files with the following names: "alter_worksheet_ethiopiastar_edited_and_merged_final_Q1_11"; "alter_worksheet_ethiopiastar_edited_and_merged_final_Q12_14"; "alter_worksheet_ethiopiastar_edited_and_merged_final_Q15_49", main contacts: Solomon Tarfasa (gutamajale@gmail.com), Tewodros Tefera (teferatewodros@yahoo.com) |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | used in ALTER socioecological modelling |
Title | Climate change interviews |
Description | Sixty structured interviews (twenty in each of the three study sites) were conducted in May 2016 as face-to-face interviews on observed climate change, impacts and ways of responding to these impacts using a paper based interview form. Data consist of an excel file containing the interviewees responses to each question ("CLIMATE CHANGE DATA-AM-MD"). Main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com). |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | information gained from these interviews informed the successful application to NERC Dfid El Nino call |
Title | Ecosystem services maps |
Description | Six participatory mapping exercises (two in each of the three study sites, one with male participants and one with female participants) were conducted in January 2015 on the 'good things' and 'bad things' in the communities' surroundings using paper based maps created by the participants. Data consist of six word files containing the notes from each of the exercises ("Ecosystem services mapping exercise - Asore men", "Ecosystem services mapping exercise - Asore women", "Ecosystem services mapping exercise - Choroko men", "Ecosystem services mapping exercise - Choroko women", "Ecosystem services mapping exercise - Laygnaw Arsho men", "Ecosystem services mapping exercise - Laygnaw Arsho women") as well as images taken during the exercise documenting the process as well as the outputs (images of the produced maps). Main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com), anja.byg@hutton.ac.uk, paula.novo@hutton.ac.uk |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | used in developing understanding of gender, age and wealth aspects of how people benefit/ disbenefit from their environment |
Title | Exploratory focus groups |
Description | Initial focus groups conducted in November 2013 in Ayemele exploring issues of livelihoods, soils, poverty, land use change and barriers to adoption of soil management methods. Three separate focus groups were conducted with men, women and young people. Data consists of three word documents with the notes from the focus groups ("November 2013 focus group men", "November 2013 focus group women", "November 2013 focus group youth") main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com) These data are included in the ALTER database which will be passed to NERC at the end of the ALTEr project |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | these data have identified differents in perceptions which have been incorporated into the project BBN modelling and framework |
Title | Focus groups May 2014 |
Description | 3x4 focus groups on livelihoods, changes, soil perceptions and restoration areas in the three study kebele (Assore, Andegna Choroko & Laygnaw Arsho). Notes from focus groups in two word documents ("FGD-May- land use changes", "FGD-Halaba Livelihood Poverty Soil"). Main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com), anja.byg@hutton.ac.uk, paula.novo@hutton.ac.uk |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | results used in the subsequent BBN modelling and incorporated into publications in prep. |
Title | Household survey (2014) |
Description | Quantitative, socio-economic household survey round 1 collected in May-June 2014 in the 3 study kebele in Halaba, Ethiopia, covering 358 households. Survey was carried out as face-to-face questionnaire by trained enumerators in Amharic or Halaban, using paper questionnaire sheets for data entry. Data entry was carried out at Hawassa University by trained students and subsequently checked by project staff (Teshale Woldemanuel & Tewodrow Tefera). Main contacts: Teshale Woldeamanuel (twoldeamanuel@yahoo.com) & Tewodros Tefera (teferatewodros@yahoo.com; dagted@gmail.com) |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | used in ALTER socioecological modelling |
Title | Land allocation survey |
Description | Household level survey to study land allocation for alternative uses. Survey was carried out as face-to-face questionnaire by trained enumerators in Amharic or Halaban, using paper questionnaire sheets for data entry. Data set in SPSS: land-allocation-data-draft1.sav, main contacts: Tewodros Tefera (teferatewodros@yahoo.com) , Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk) |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | used in alter modelling |
Title | Photovoice |
Description | Six photovoice exercises (two in each of the three study sites, one with male participants and one with female participants) were conducted in January 2015 on the 'good things' and 'bad things' in the communities' surroundings. Data consist of six word files containing the notes from each of the exercises ("Asore photovoice mens group notes", "Asore photovoice womens group notes", "Choroko photovoice mens group notes", "Choroko photovoice womens group notes", "Laygnaw Arsho photovoice mens group notes", "Laygnaw Arsho photovoice womens group notes") as well as the images taken during the exercise (altogether 167 jpg files). Main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com), anja.byg@hutton.ac.uk, paula.novo@hutton.ac.uk |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | used to understand peoples' views of their environment and to develop integrated modelling - reflecting on gender and age |
Title | Restoration area focus groups |
Description | • Restoration area focus groups - Three focus groups (one in each of the three study sites Assore, Andegna Choroko & Laygnaw Arsho) were conducted in January 2015 on the benefits and disbenefits from the restoration areas and the governance and rules applying to these areas. Data consist of three word files containing the notes from each of the focus groups ("Restoration areas focus group - Laygnaw Arsho- January 2015", "Restoration areas focus group - Choroko - January 2015", "Restoration areas focus group - Asore - January 2015"). Main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com), anja.byg@hutton.ac.uk, paula.novo@hutton.ac.uk These data are included in the main ALTER database that will be passed to NERC on project completion |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | paper published in benefits/disbenefits of restoration areas which has influenced the projects perceptions of restoration and how to incorporate this into the integrated socioecological modelling |
Title | Soil management focus group |
Description | Three focus groups (one in each of the three study sites) were conducted in January 2015 on the benefits and disbenefits of different soil management techniques and on the requirements and barriers to using these. Data consist of three word files containing the notes from each of the focus groups ("Soil management focus group - Laygnaw Arsho - January 2015", "Soil management focus group - Chiroko - January 2015", "Soil management focus group - Asore - January 2015"). Main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com), anja.byg@hutton.ac.uk, paula.novo@hutton.ac.uk these data are included in the main alter database and will be passed to NERC on project completion |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | used in development of the modelling |
Title | Wealth ranking focus groups |
Description | 3 word documents ("Wealth ranking Asore FGD May 9 2014"; "Wealth ranking Choroko" and "Wealth ranking Laygnaw Arsho") with notes from workshops carried out in each of the project kebele in May 2014 to elicit local people's definitions and understanding of poverty/wealth and classify of all households in the kebele into the defined wealth groups. main contacts: Awdenegest Moges (awde_moges@yahoo.co.uk), Mengistu Dinato (medidi10@gmail.com) These data are being compiled into the ALTER database which will be passed to NERC at the end of the project |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | these data are fundamental to ALTER investigating links between soils (other natural capital) and people, as it identifies aspects of the poverty status for households followed through the project. These data are now used by two other RCUK projects - iPore and BREAD. |
Description | Collaboration with SRUC on cognitive mapping in Uganda and soil interventions in SSA |
Organisation | Scotland's Rural College |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Co-supervision by P Novo of MSc students from SRUC / Univ Edinburgh who travelled to Uganda to carry out study projects on wetland ecosystem services (funded by Univ Edin). P Novo assisted with the development of the project with a focus on participatory mapping. |
Collaborator Contribution | supervision of students by K Glenk SRUC who provided expertise in cognitive mapping and soil management. |
Impact | Charissa Bosma (2014) Fuzzy cognitive mapping as a tool for analysing the sustainability of common-pool resources: An application to the Rwamucucu wetland in Kabale district, Uganda. MSc thesis. University of Edinburgh Huantao Shou (2016) Effects of Soil Interventions on Poverty Alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Regional Review of the Literature. MSc thesis. University of Edinburgh Charissa Bosma, Klaus Glenk, Paula Novo (2017) How do individuals and groups perceive wetland functioning? Fuzzy cognitive mapping of wetland perceptions in Uganda. Land Use Policy 60: 181-196. |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | ALTER Poster presented at the 39th T.B. Macaulay Lecture (Dynamic Earth Edinburgh) - The UN Sustainable Development Goals and the dynamics of well-being given by Robert Costanza, Crawford School of Public Policy Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University, |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This public event in Edinburgh was well attended by a diverse audience and it provided the opporunity to show case ALTER project to this audience, and for the project team and leader to have discussions with Bob Costanza over the course of his visit about aspects of ecosystem services research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.hutton.ac.uk/events/39th-tb-macaulay-lecture-un-sustainable-development-goals-and-dynamic... |
Description | BBC Shared Planet Radio Interview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | After the interview I received emails and personal comments about how the interview had raised their awareness of the importance of soils and what issues were important in tackling soil degradation extended interview listed as BBC podcast. The talk is listed by the Global Soil Partnership and I was asked to do TV interview for FAO on the topic. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03cmt4t |
Description | EGU 2017 (Jenny Farmer) - presentation on carbon dioxide emissions from peat soils under potato cultivation in Uganda |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Organic wetland soils in south western Uganda are found in valley bottom wetlands, surrounded by steep, mineral soil hill slopes. Land use change in these papyrus dominated wetlands has taken place over the past forty years, seeing wetland areas cleared of papyrus, rudimentary drainage channel systems dug, and soil cultivated and planted with crops, predominantly potatoes. There has been little research into the cultivation of organic wetlands soils in Uganda, or the impacts on soil carbon dynamics and associated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This study used two rounds of farmer interviews to capture the land management practices on these soils and how they vary over the period of a year. Three potato fields were also randomly selected and sampled for CO2 emissions at four points in time during the year; 1) just after the potato beds had been dug, 2) during the potato growing period, 3) after the potato harvest, and 4) at the end of the fallow season. Carbon dioxide emissions, soil and air temperatures, water table depth, vegetation cover and land use were all recorded in situ in each field on each sampling occasion, from both the raised potato beds and the trenches in between them. There appeared to be a delay in the disturbance effect of digging the peat, with heterotrophic CO2 emissions from the raised beds not immediately increasing after being exposed to the air. Excluding these results, there was a significant linear relationship between mean emissions and water table depth from the raised beds and trenches in each field over time (p<0.001, r2=0.85), as well as between emissions and soil moisture content (p<0.001, r2=0.85). Temporal variability was observed, with significant differences in the means of emissions measured at the different sampling times (p<0.001, one-way ANOVA); this was the case in both raised beds and trenches in all fields studied, except for the trenches in one field which showed no significant difference between sampling times (p=0.55). Mean emissions from the raised beds were highest during the potato growing season (1.74 ± 0.07 g m-2 hr-1 (± shows standard error)) and lowest at the time when the beds had been freshly dug (0.67 ± 0.17 g m-2 hr-1). Mean emissions from the trenches were highest at the end of the fallow period (0.37 ± 0.02 g m-2 hr-1) and lowest at the time when the beds had been freshly dug (0.20 ± 0.05 g m-2 hr-1). As the first of its kind on Uganda's peat soils, this study has provided some insight into the use of these soils and impacts on CO2 emissions which can be used to inform Uganda's national emissions scenarios, whilst highlighting some of the fundamental data gaps which need to be addressed with future studies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | EGU 2017 (Jenny Farmer) - presentation on peatlands and potatoes; organic wetland soils in Uganda |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Land use change in Uganda's wetlands has received very little research attention. Peat soils dominate the papyrus wetlands of the south west of the country, but the areas they are found in have been increasingly converted to potato cultivation. Our research in Uganda set out to (a) document both the annual use of and changes to these soils under potato cultivation, and (b) the extent and condition of these soils across wetland systems. During our research we found it was necessary to develop locally appropriate protocols for sampling and analysis of soil characteristics, based on field conditions and locally available resources. Over the period of one year we studied the use of the peat soil for potato cultivation by smallholder farmers in Ruhuma wetland and measured changes to surface peat properties and soil nutrients in fields over that time. Farmer's use of the fields changed over the year, with cultivation, harvesting and fallow periods, which impacted on soil micro-topography. Measured properties changed over the year as a result of the land use, with bulk density, nitrogen content, potassium and magnesium all reducing over the course of the year. To determine the extent of the peat, a spatial survey was conducted in the Kanyabaha-Rushebeya wetland system, capturing peat depths and key soil properties (bulk density, organic matter and carbon contents). Generalised additive models were used to map peat depth and soil characteristics across the system, and maps were developed for these as well as drainage and land use classes. Comparison of peat cores between the two study areas indicates spatial variability in peat depths and the influence of neighbouring mineral soil hillslopes. Our work provides valuable insight into the condition and use of these tropical peat soils, which are under-researched yet highly depended upon by local communities, with wider climate impacts. Cultivation of these peat soils has implications for their future sustainability and use, and having insight into the impacts of land management on these soils improves local and national level capacity for better soil management. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Ecosystem Services Partnership meeting in South Africa 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | presentation by Italian funded PhD student linked to ALTER on "Modeling ecosystem services in different Scenarios in order to identify their role in land degradation. A case study in the Ethiopian Highlands" to introduce using Bayesian Belief networks in ES research as part of a discussion on using different modelling approaches to Ecosystem Services. Authorship also included Gimona. Poggio and Black (Hutton) As a result this student gained a better insight into different approaches which she has brought back to discussions with the ALTER team |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Global Soil Security Symposium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | keynote presentation from H Black on "How Soil Security is Important to Biodiversity" at The inaugural Global Soil Security Symposium, hosted by Texas A&M University. This meeting was arranged to discuss how maintaining and improving soil quality will help the world to achieve food and water security, contribute to climate regulation, and improve human health. The event brought together an international group of people from research, governments, industry and practioners an important step forward in the international soil policy dialogue |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://ussc.edu.au/events/past/special-events/global-soil-security |
Description | Global Soil Week 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | ca. 100 people attended the dialogue session on "Soils and seas in the nexus: linking sustainable land management and the coastal and marine environments" where H Black presented a keynote on "The amazing soil-sediment-water system: it's role in solutions for societal challenges" followed by facilitation of the afternoons discussion which resulted in a detailed rapporteurs report. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://globalsoilweek.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GSW_15_1.5_summary.pdf |
Description | Keynote presentation at the World Congress of Soil Science: Soils, ecosystem services and poverty allevation: a case study from sub-saharan Africa |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | talks initiated discussions with peers and subsequent request for Keynote at Global Soil Security 2015 identified regional collaborators for key datasets and models |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://www.20wcss.org/sub03_1.php |
Description | Oral presentation at the 'Forest and Livelihoods: Assessment, Research, Engagement' conference December 2015, Paris. Anja Byg, Paula Novo, Tewodros Tefera, Bedru Balana, Teshale Woldeamnual , Mengistu Dinato, Awdegenest Moges, Helaina Black (2015) Forest and soil restoration exclosures in southern Ethiopia: Impacts on livelihoods and distributional inequities. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Oral presentation at this international conference to raise awareness of ALTER / ESPA researcg and stimulate discussion over restoration implications for local communities |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.ifriresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/BYG.pdf |
Description | Poster presentation at the Ecosummit conference, Montpellier, August 2016. Paula Novo, Anja Byg, Awdegenest Moges, Mengistu Dinato, Helaina Black (2016) Restoration of common lands through enclosures in southern Ethiopia: Sustaining multiple benefits? |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The 5th International EcoSummit Congress, EcoSummit 2016 - Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change, was an international forum with the target of bringing together scientists working in several ecological disciplines, and who required a better understanding of the concepts and methods for a holistic use of ecology in environmental management. Thus it was an excellent forum for our earlier career project members (PhDs and staff) to present their research and be able to interact with the worlds leading scientists in this area. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.ecosummit2016.org/conference-programme.asp |
Description | Presentation at ESPA Annual Conference 2014 by T. Tefera (Hawassa Univ): Tewodros Tefera (2014) From PRA to Social Survey: understanding the link between poverty and ecosystem services. Oral presentation at the Annual ESPA conference 2014, London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | ESPA Annual Conference with international participants - raised awareness of ALTER research in Ethiopia and gained insights into other ESPA projects |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Presentation at ESPA Annual Conference 2015 by P Nova (JHI): Restoring common lands through exclosures in southern Ethiopia - impacts on livelihoods and distributional inequities. Paula Novo, Anja Byg, Tewodros Tefera, Bedru Balana, Teshale Woldeamnual , Mengistu Dinato, Awdegenest Moges, Helaina Black (2015) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | engagement with ESPA community and presentation of results to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Soils @ The Royal Highland Show, UK 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | International Year of Soils event at the Royal Highland Show, between Hutton, Soil Association, Scottish Government, EU Joint Research Council and others. Engagement activities throughout the show to highlight the importance of soil including soil walk, soil educational games, soil App games and interaction with the public on one-to-one. H Black participated in the event talking to public, farmers and policy about soils and how issues of soil health and soil degradation influence us all. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.hutton.ac.uk/news/royal-highland-show-2015-time-celebrate-our-soils |