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A framework for action

Improving land use
Involving the people
Developing local and national activities
Strengthening regional activities
Coordinating international action

Many past attempts to prevent land degradation in the region have been unsuccessful. One of the main reasons was that these attempts were centrally organized and produced few short-term benefits for the farmers who had to execute them. The farmers had little motivation for the hard manual work involved in erecting tile mechanical barriers to soil erosion on which these past attempts largely depended. The problems were treated from an engineering perspective, and little attention was given to inept forms of land management and use, of which excessive runoff and soil erosion were only the symptoms.

Fortunately, alternatives to the purely mechanical solutions of the past now exist. These depend primarily on:

• ensuring that land users themselves are involved from the start in analysing their problems and finding solutions for them;

• identifying the causes of land degradation before prescribing solutions for it;

• using techniques that provide economic benefits for land users in the short as well as the long term; and

• promoting land-use systems that provide permanent vegetative cover to protect the soil, increase fertility and optimize water penetration.

The remainder of this publication describes a framework for action, built on these principles, to tackle the problem of land degradation in Asia and the Pacific, including desertification in the region's arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. The framework is designed to optimize actions at national, regional and international levels.

Action at national level

The prime responsibility for putting the framework into practice rests with national governments. They must spearhead plan formulation, mobilize the people and initiate the programmes and projects that will be needed.

The key action required at the national level is to develop a long-term land conservation plan which will provide the necessary continuity of approach. A long-term land conservation plan is, without question, a government's best investment in land conservation.

These long-term plans need to be fashioned to suit the exact requirements of individual countries. However, they will all be based on three key principles: improving land use, obtaining the participation of the land users and developing the necessary institutional support.

Action at regional level

National action needs to be supported by regional action in specific areas where this is more efficient. Long-term training programmes, information exchange and major research programmes, for example, are often best carried out at the regional level.

Action at international level

Finally, international coordination is needed to ensure that the region's plans to tackle land degradation receive the long-term support that they will require. A scheme for ensuring efficient international coordination is outlined on 'Coordinating international action'.

Improving land use

EVALUATING LAND RESOURCES AND IDENTIFYING THE CAUSES OF LAND MISUSE ARE THE FIRST STEPS TO IMPROVING LAND USE. ONCE THIS HAS BEEN DONE, NEW POLICIES AND IMPROVED TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE INTRODUCED

Land degradation is the direct result of incorrect land use and poor land management. It follows that an analysis of the reasons wily land is incorrectly used or managed is needed if lasting solutions are to be found. Failure to do so will result in the development of programmes which deal with the symptoms of the problem rather than the causes.

The following steps need to be followed to bring about improved land use:

Evaluating land resources

Reliable data on land resources - including soils, climate, vegetation and topography - are needed if sound land-use and conservation policies are to be developed. Some of these data are more widely available than is generally realized. However, the data are usually fragmented, of different scales and reliability, and are stored in different ministries, libraries and universities.

The first major task is to find out what data are available and where they are located. The second is to gather existing data together, arrange them in a usable form, assess their utility and decide what additional data still need to be gathered.

With computers becoming more readily available and easier to use, it is now possible for any country to establish its own Geographic Information System (GIS) for the assembly, storage and processing of natural resources data. With such a system all relevant data can be stored in one place, added to as more and better data become available and quickly processed into usable forms. All countries should consider establishing their own GIS.

Improving land use

Other more traditional systems of gathering, compiling, storing and processing natural resources data should not be overlooked. As a minimum, each country should establish a small office or operations centre which is given responsibility for recording what relevant data are available and where they are located.

When sufficient data have been accumulated, they can be used in land-use planning exercises to identify priority areas for land rehabilitation. These areas can then be examined more intensively and strategies developed to improve land-use patterns.

Identifying causes of land misuse

The most difficult step in the process, but also the most important, is identifying those factors that can be changed by government to reverse the processes that lead to land degradation. Possible causes include growing the wrong crops on the wrong land, insecure land tenure, poor infrastructure, lack of inputs, inappropriate pricing structure for agricultural products, subsidies, incentives, taxes or even out-moded laws or social customs. Problems like these can seldom be overcome simply by introducing a new technology.

It may be difficult for governments to remove or change some of these causes of land misuse, and changes may have to be introduced over a period of time. Even where immediate changes cannot be made to overcome a basic problem, it is important that the reasons for the problem be understood. Failure to do so can result in the waste of time, effort and money.

On the other hand, if governments understand why land is being degraded, it may be possible to introduce gradual and inexpensive changes that will encourage farmers to take up more productive and sustainable forms of land use.

This information can provide the background to the policies and strategies that are required by a government to overcome its land degradation problems. Even if it is not possible to implement them immediately, the information can guide governments away from programmes that will fail because they are aimed at the symptoms of the problems, rather than the causes. In either case the results will be beneficial and the options available will be clarified.

Implementing the changes

Reforming agricultural policies

Agricultural policies can have a profound effect on land use. Subsidies, incentives and taxes can all have a big effect on what crops are grown where and whether or not the land is well managed. Governments, attempting to achieve self-sufficiency in a food crop, frequently promote policies which result in marginal land being misused. This, in turn, leads to land degradation. On the other hand, the price of food crops is sometimes controlled and kept to such a low level that it becomes pointless for farmers to manage their crops or land well. This also leads to land degradation. All government policies which affect the economics of land use should be carefully reviewed and, where necessary, modified so that they encourage productive and sustainable land use rather than destructive practices.

Developing and promoting new technologies

New technologies can also radically change land use - for better or for worse. Some of the conservation technology introduced in the past proved neither popular nor effective. For example, systems of earth contour banks and artificial waterways have not proved suitable under most conditions in Asia where land is in short supply. Here farmers are not prepared to sacrifice the land that is taken up by the structures. Where farms are small other technologies, such as the use of grass strips planted on the contour, have proved more effective and acceptable to the farmers.

However, experience has shown that no matter how effective a technology may be in controlling land degradation, it is unlikely to be accepted and practiced by farmers unless it also meets some other immediate need such as increasing yields, reducing the risk of crop failure, providing feed for livestock or reducing labour requirements. For this reason systems which combine agroforestry with terracing have proved popular and effective in the Philippines as they have led to higher and more assured crop yields while controlling soil erosion.

Controlling the loss of agricultural land

A major problem in the region is the loss of agricultural land for housing, industry, roads and other nonagricultural purposes. Unfortunately, many of the region's biggest and fastest growing cities are situated beside good agricultural land. As they expand, good quality land is converted, usually permanently, to other uses. To compensate for this, farmers are forced on to poorer land - frequently steeply sloping ground with shallow, poor soils which can quickly erode and lead to flooding, siltation of dams and waterways, and an accompanying cycle of poverty and yet more land degradation.

This problem is now recognized by countries such as Indonesia where a recently drafted National Soils Policy provides for the allocation of land to sustainable uses, either for forestry, agriculture, city expansion or other activities according to an Integrated Land-use Plan. Clearly any national land conservation programme should provide for regulations and zoning so that land-use changes are introduced in an orderly way and a country's best agricultural land is protected.

Providing farm inputs

The best way to protect soil from erosion is through a dense cover of living or dead vegetation. Healthy, densely growing crops not only produce high yields but they also provide good ground cover and protection from erosion. Any conservation programme should therefore promote good crop management.

The remarkable increases in crop production in the region over the past 30 years have been largely due to the widespread use of improved varieties and a large increase in the use of fertilizers. In 1961, fertilizer consumption by developing countries in Asia and the Pacific, in terms of plant nutrients, amounted to about 2 million tonnes or 7 percent of world fertilizer use. By 1992 this had risen to nearly 60 million tonnes - almost half the world total - and was still increasing. During this period fertilizer use increased from less than 10 kg/ha to about 120 kg/ha. However, there are considerable differences within and between countries, and the prevailing imbalanced application of fertilizers suggests that there is still considerable potential to increase yields and ground cover in the region through improved fertilizer use. Whether this will happen depends largely on the provision of supplies and their distribution. This also applies to other farm inputs such as fuel, improved seeds and credit - without adequate inputs high productivity can neither be attained nor maintained. In this context, there is considerable potential for increasing the use of green manures in order to improve soil fertility and improve levels of organic matter in the soil.

Providing security of land tenure

Farmers who do not have long-term rights to the land they cultivate are seldom, if ever, interested in improving or protecting that land. This applies to millions of farmers in Asia and the Pacific. The largest group of farmers affected in this way are those that practice shifting cultivation - clearing small plots of land and cultivating them until the fertility of the soil decreases, and then moving on to clear and cultivate another plot. A recent estimate shows that there are now approximately 23 million people practicing shifting cultivation in the Asia and Pacific region.

Shifting cultivators are among the poorest population groups in the region and can do little without help to better their lives or farming practices. Many are now illegally farming in forest reserves. Without any rights to the land that they are using, they have no incentive to change or improve their practices.

Special attention must be given to these and other landless farmers if land conservation programmes are to be effective. Landlessness, whatever its cause, is becoming an increasingly common problem in the region Furthermore, a sustained effort is needed to improve the security of tenure of those who do have land. Farmers who have no guarantee that they can stay on the land that they farm rarely take actions that contribute to long-term stability and productivity, such as erosion protection and tree planting. Various possibilities must be explored, including provision for different types of land rights, ranging from full ownership to leases, re-employment in non-farming activities and resettlement.

Diversifying rural employment

The limited land area of Asia and the Pacific cannot continue indefinitely to provide direct employment through farming for more and more people. Other forms of employment ant livelihood must be developed in the rural areas to take the pressure off the land. Land conservation programmes should take this fact into consideration.

There is already a long tradition of small-scale rural and cottage industries in Asia and the Pacific which should be studied and expanded. These include bee keeping, silk production, the gathering and processing of medicinal plants, weaving, carving and pottery. In addition, there are possibilities for developing small-scale agro-industries to process, or partly process, whatever is produced locally. This is being done extensively in China where thousands of small towns and villages now have agro-industries for the production of rattan furniture, paper, fruit juice, leather goods and many other products.

Involving the people

THE BEST PEOPLE TO PLAN AND IMPLEMENT CONSERVATION PROGRAMMES ARE THOSE WHO USE THE LAND - FARMERS, HERDERS AND FOREST DWELLERS. HOW CAN GOVERNMENTS ENCOURAGE THEM TO DO SO?

While the overall responsibility for arresting land degradation lies with governments, experience has shown that land conservation can be achieved over large areas and at a reasonable cost only through the activities of the land users themselves. Land conservation programmes should therefore aim at creating the conditions which will encourage land users, at the level of the farm unit, to adopt land-use systems and management practices that will lead to conservation. This will not be easy unless those involved can see some positive gains in doing so.

Providing short- and long-term benefits

The first requirement is to develop agricultural practices which will simultaneously increase yields, decrease risk or offer some other advantage while, at the same time, controlling land degradation.

Physical methods of soil conservation will always be needed but they can often be complemented by other approaches which involve biological or vegetative methods of control or which depend on changing land-use patterns. Farmers readily accept practices that can be managed within their limited resources of land and labour, and which lead to quick and obvious benefits.

Encouraging participation

This is now being demonstrated in the Philippines where a new productive conservation system has been introduced. This package of technologies - called the Sloping Agricultural Land Technology, or SALT for short - integrates several soil conservation and production measures. Basically, SALT is a method of growing annual and perennial crops in bands four to five metres wide between contour rows of nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs. It has been found that this system adequately reduces erosion and restores moderately eroded hilly land to profitable farming. The SALT technology is now being taken up and promoted in several countries in the region including Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Indonesia and India.

Sloping Agricultural Land Technology in the Philippines

Organizing land-user groups

Land conservation works efficiently only where the land users themselves become fully involved in deciding on what is needed and then actively helping in both the planning and the implementation of what is done. A number of techniques have been developed in recent years which can make the participation of land users a practical reality. NGOs have been particularly active in developing and using participatory methods, and their experience and help should be used where possible.

Nowhere have the land users themselves become more involved in land conservation than in Australia. Over the past 200 years, vast areas of Australia have been cleared and converted to new types of land use. The result has been extensive land degradation. Although much good work was done by the state soil conservation services, the government recognized that widespread conservation could be achieved only through the greater involvement of the land users themselves. A new conservation programme was therefore launched in the mid 1980s called Landcare. Under this programme, farmers and other land users have been encouraged to form groups which develop and run their own conservation projects. So successful has this programme been that more than 2000 community groups, involving one-third of all Australian farmers, have been formed in the past five years. These groups are now able to tackle problems that cannot be solved by individuals or within single farm boundaries; new forms of collective action are emerging, resulting in improvements to the environment and to farm profitability. A mechanism has been introduced so that these Landcare groups can be formally linked to existing institutions and national level policy makers. The principles of Landcare can be applied anywhere.

National programmes should always provide encouragement for land, water and forest user associations. It is not always necessary to form new associations because formal or informal groups - sometimes traditional organizations - often already exist which are willing and able to perform this function, given guidance and help. Particular care must be taken that the interests of women are adequately catered for because in most rural societies the success of conservation programmes depends largely on the support and activities of women (some 40 percent of Asian farmers are women). In Asia and the Pacific, in particular, attention should also be focused on young people: their participation is vital if means are to be found of slowing down migration to urban areas.

Providing technical advice and training

Land users are frequently ready to participate in conservation programmes but lack the essential knowledge and skills. It is therefore necessary to provide practical training if conservation programmes are to succeed. Successful technology diffusion depends on building links between farmers, extension agents, researchers, administrators and policy makers. Again, care must be taken to include women in these interactions because their role in shaping and protecting the environment is crucial.

Any new technology must be appropriate to the conditions of the farmers. For example, in parts of India the use of grass, usually vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides), planted on the contour, has proved a cheap and attractive alternative to the use of earth contour banks.

Recent case studies of non-government and partnership programmes from the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have shown how a diversity of institutional arrangements and technical innovations have led to substantial benefits for local people. New linkages between NGOs, government agencies and local communities are helping to break down bureaucratic hierarchies, resolve conflicts between communities, recuperate barren lands, double crop yields, increase crop diversity and improve well water availability. They are also improving social cohesion and providing farmers with alternative forms of credit that are managed by local groups. The federation of local groups has done much to ensure that they can influence higher-level institutions and political interests.

The provision of credit and marketing assistance are two important areas where local land user associations can do much to help. In Indonesia, long-term government plans for reforestation and land rehabilitation include the provision of credit to help dryland farmers practice conservation farming. Credit and marketing assistance are also included in plans for diversifying income through activities such as sericulture and honey production.

Publicizing the issues

Land degradation, in its different forms, is now probably the most important environmental problem facing countries of the region. National publicity campaigns are needed if this subject is to receive the attention that it deserves. Programmes should include national publicity campaigns that sensitize the public in general, and the rural population in particular, to the issues of land productivity, water management and soil conservation. The subject should be presented in a positive way so that everyone is made aware not only of the seriousness of the problem, but also that it can be overcome and that everyone has a part to play.

All forms of the media - press, radio and television - should be used. Field days and demonstrations should be organized, conservation included in school curricula, and national personalities and politicians should be asked to help stress the importance and value of the national conservation programme. Maximum use should be made of local NGOs, community groups and organizations, particularly where the use of printed material is constrained by low levels of literacy. This strategy is already being followed in the Philippines where new technologies, such as SALT, are being widely publicized and the President has become actively involved in promoting soil conservation.

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