Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems [With CD]

ISBN-13: 9781420072778 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 256 str.

Thomas Gitau; Margaret W. Gitau; David Waltner-Toews

Opis

Exploring the implementation of participatory, multistakeholder, and transdisciplinary ecosystem health research, Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems combines the latest theories in complexity and management with practical tools and approaches for sustainable rural development research. Although the text focuses on smallholder farming communities in the central highlands of Kenya, the material discussed can be and has been effectively applied to agroecosystems in many other parts of the world. After showing how the agroecosystem health framework was successfully adapted in a smallholder-dominated agroecosystem, the book integrates participatory methods, systems analyses, pulse process models, and soft systems methods in an open-ended, adaptive R&D process. It then looks at how to use correspondence analysis to refine a research-based suite of indicators and analyze data obtained using indicators. Incorporating the authors pioneering work in the ecosystem health field, this book demonstrates the potential of the agroecosystem health paradigm as a framework in the decision-making processes of agricultural communities in a tropical highlands area."

Recenzje

From the Foreword
“This welcome volume on agricultural sustainability … is authored by innovative scientists well-known in their fields … It is clearly written and provides a great deal of practical information as well as addresses theoretical and systems issues in depth.”
—Clive A. Edwards, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA

Spis treści

General Introduction Global Context Sustainability Agroecosystem Health The Kiambu Agroecosystem Potential Indicators Justification Design and Implementation of an Adaptive, Integrated Approach to Health and Sustainability in a Smallholder-Dominated Agroecosystem Research Strategy and Methods Results Discussion Community Participation and the Integration of Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability Concerns into Practical Decision Making Process and Methods Results Discussion Use of Systems Theory, Directed Graphs, and Pulse Process Models in an Adaptive Approach to Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability Process and Methods Results Discussion Soft System Methodology in the Management of Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability Concerns of a Tropical Highlands Agroecosystem Process and Methods Results Discussion Development of Health and Sustainability Indicators for a Tropical Highlands Agroecosystem Process and Methods Results Discussion An Assessment of Health and Sustainability of a Smallholder-Dominated Tropical Highlands Ecosystem Process and Methods Results Discussion General Discussion Synopsis Sustainability Agroecosystem Health Kiambu Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability Assessment Summary General Conclusions Appendix 1: Questionnaire Used to Carry Out a Census of All the Land-Use Units in the Village Appendix 2: Questionnaire Used for Indicator Measurement at the Land-Use Unit Level Index An Introduction and References appear in each chapter.

O autorze

Thomas Gitau, Margaret W. Gitau, David Waltner-Toews