Abstract

Current land use systems in the Amazon largely consist of extensive conventional productivist livestock operations that drive deforestation. Silvopastoral systems (SPS) support a transition to low carbon production if they intensify in sympathy with the needs of biophysical and socio-economic contexts. SPS have been promoted for decades as an alternative livestock production system but widespread uptake has yet to be seen. We provide a schema of associating factors for adoption of SPS based on past literature in tropical agriculture and apply this to a bespoke survey of 172 farms in the Caquetá region of the Colombian Amazon. We find a number of factors which do not apply to this region and argue for a context specific approach. The impact of managing increased market access and opportunities for SPS producers are crucial to avoiding additional deforestation. Further understanding of the underlying antecedents of common factors, such as perceptions of silvopastoral systems, would reduce the risk of perverse policy outcomes.

Details

Title
Examining factors for the adoption of silvopastoral agroforestry in the Colombian Amazon
Author
Alvarado Sandino, C. O. 1 ; Barnes, A. P. 2 ; Sepúlveda, I. 2 ; Garratt, M. P. D. 3 ; Thompson, J. 4 ; Escobar-Tello, M. P. 5 

 SRUC, Rural Economy, Environment and Society, Edinburgh, UK (GRID:grid.426884.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 0170 6644); University of Edinburgh, Faculty of Geosciences, Edinburgh, UK (GRID:grid.4305.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7988) 
 SRUC, Rural Economy, Environment and Society, Edinburgh, UK (GRID:grid.426884.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 0170 6644) 
 University of Reading, Sustainable Land Management, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading, UK (GRID:grid.9435.b) (ISNI:0000 0004 0457 9566) 
 UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Penicuik, UK (GRID:grid.494924.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 1089 2266) 
 University of Bristol, Bristol Veterinary School, Bristol, UK (GRID:grid.5337.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7603) 
Pages
12252
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2843247890
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.