ICARDA annual report 2004

ICARDA Annual Report 2004
46
prompting them to take action or
ask for technical support.
ICARDA evaluated LILAF by
studying three villages in different
degraded agro-ecosystems in
northwest Syria:
1. Yakhour (horticultural farming
system; annual rainfall of 600
mm)—located in a mountainous
area; olive orchards dominate
the steep mountain sides.
2. Harbakiyeh (agro-pastoral system;
annual rainfall of 220
mm)—located in the transition
zone between Syria’s agricultural
areas and its steppe land; the
farming system is based on barley
cultivation, sheep rearing
and a few cash crops.
3. Hammam (pastoral system;
annual rainfall of 150 mm)—
located in the steppe; the farming
system is based on extensive
sheep rearing.
The information used in the
study was collected using semistructured
interviews, soil sample
analyses, and research reports related
to the three areas. At all sites,
researchers found that land degradation
was driven by (i) rapidly
growing populations; (ii) irregular
droughts; and (iii) the policies
applied in each zone (e.g. a cultivation
ban in the steppe and an irrigation
ban in the 200-250 mm/year
rainfall zone).
Population pressure, the breakdown
of social networks, and lack
of cash for investment in agriculture
were placing pressure on villagers’
livelihoods in all three areas.
The new livelihood opportunities
identified included marketing certain
cash crops and animal products,
and off-farm wage-labor
opportunities in more productive
agricultural areas, or nearby cities.
Strikingly, the villagers in all
areas were either not addressing
land degradation or were only
responding in a very limited way.
This was explained using the liveli-
hood perspective built into the
framework. Livelihood strategies are
based on household objectives,
which are strongly influenced by
pressures (e.g. lack of cash for investment)
and opportunities (e.g. wageearning
opportunities in other areas).
Whether or not people address
degradation depends on how strongly
they feel it affects their livelihoods.
The case studies identified two different
scenarios that explain people’s
failure to address degradation:
1. Land in a degraded state
In Harbakiyeh (agro-pastoral system)
and Hammam
(pastoral system), land
is obviously degraded.
But, this is the result of
centuries of degradation
and villagers are used
to their degraded environment.
In addition,
the current rate of
degradation is quite
low, so it tends to go
unnoticed. People feel
that the issue is simply
not as important as the
other livelihood pressures
they face, especially
since reversing
degradation would require major
investment. Local farmers, therefore,
use little mineral fertilizer and
sell their manure to farmers in
nearby irrigated areas, rather than
using it on their own fields.
2. High rate of land
degradation
At Yakhour (horticultural system)
the situation is different. The area’s
soils are less degraded and more fertile
than those of the other two sites.
However, soil erosion has accelerated
in recent decades and the current
rate of erosion is very high. As a
result, most households are very
aware that their land is degrading
and reducing olive productivity.
They also know that soil-conserva-
tion efforts are needed and are aware
of possible conservation measures.
However, they are not investing in
these, because they are often very
costly and most households are too
busy with short-term survival. In
addition, many male farmers are
absent for long periods as they work
off-farm as wage laborers.
The results obtained using the
framework show that the landmanagement
strategies required for
villages in areas where the land has
already degraded are very different
from those required in areas where
it is currently degrading.
The agro-pastoral farming system in Harbakiyeh (left). The
land here has been degraded for centuries. A view of
olive orchads in Afrin (right). The land is still in a reasonably
good condition, but is degrading due to severe
tillage and water erosion.
• In degraded areas, efforts
should concentrate on showing
that improving land quality
pays off by increasing agricultural
productivity in an economically
viable way. This will
require awareness campaigns
and suitable technologies (e.g.
low-cost measures to improve
soil fertility).
• In degrading areas, cheap soilconservation
measures, which
are adapted to the farming system
and require little labor,
need to be identified to halt land
degradation efficiently.
Recognizing this, ICARDA is
currently developing appropriate
technologies in a participatory way
for these two systems.