Adaptive Ecosocial System Sustainability Enhancement in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

A conceptual framework is developed and used for improving the livelihood of Sub-Saharan communities faced with multiple stresses resulting from adverse environments, vector-transmitted diseases, and limited food. Ecosocial systems are the units for management. The accumulation of ecological, economic, and social capital is the objective of management, the reduction of maintenance costs is the key strategy, and technologies must satisfy ecological, economic, and social criteria. Interacting social system components are communities, facilitators, scientists, and political as well as administrative organizations. An adaptive approach to management allows flexibility in human and financial resource allocation and results in changes in knowledge and efficacy of management operations. The implementation strategy at two sites in Ethiopia relies on a two-stage procedure. In Stage 1, human and cattle health management set the conditions for development.In Stage 2, the ecosocial system is kept on a trajectory to enhanced ecological, economic, and social capital. In each stage, the assignment of responsibilities leads to four implementation phases. In Stage 1, successful precision targeting of tsetse and drug-based Trypanosoma spp. control increased the economic and social capital at the Luke site in southwestern Ethiopia but threatened the ecological capital because of overstocking and land degradation. In Stage 2, a women's group living in the outskirts of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) transformed barren land into a horticultural enterprise to enhance ecosystem service provision, including production of horticultural goods, and increase soil fertility expressed by nutrients and water availability. This article reviews concepts on human livelihood improvement in Sub-Saharan Africa and identifies principles that became important during project execution.

Soil degradation as a reason for inadequate human nutrition

“…It is equally important to understand how sustainable agriculture can address both the environmental concerns and human health issues (Horrigan et al 2002), diffuse and minimize pollution from agricultural practices (Burkart 2007), predict changes in crop productivity over time (Ewert et al 2005) and adapt to ecological systems (Giloli and Baumgärtner 2007) of changing societal needs. Sustainable and efficient practices must address global environmental impacts (Tilman 1999;Singh 2000;Thajun and Van Ranst 2005).…”

From Tsetse Control to Sustainable Rural Development – Progress and Opportunities for an Ethiopian Community

“…The models developed by Baumgärtner et al (2008b), Gilioli and Baumgärtner (2007), Herren et al (2008) and Gutierrez et al, 2010) were hardly considered by the stakeholder community. Among the reasons was the late availability of the models, unclear objectives, few financial resources, and diverging views on methodologies.…”

Sustainability within the Academic EcoHealth Literature: Existing Engagement and Future Prospects

“…The n = 647 articles we covered mentioned that the purpose of sustainability indicators to assess sustainability levels [60], environmental conditions [53], and ecosystem health [111]. There was also mention of some applications of the indicators including the use of a DPSEE model by UN agencies [111].…”

“…All articles cover some context around the concepts. Five articles used the Adaptive Methodology for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health to engage conceptually with ecosystem sustainability [37,52,[59][60][61][62]. One article argued that "situating human health within a theoretical framework of ecological thinking enables health professionals to see that the determinants of health are components of a complex adaptive system" which, in turn, allows "the potential for ecological thinking and settings approaches to be applied to understand, advance, and indeed maintain both population health and ecosystem sustainability" [63].…”

“…The coverage of "social sustainability" included the need for the evaluation of social sustainability, the need to use particular models such as the socioeconomic modeling approach [60], and the need for social sustainability alongside economic development in order to attain global health [37], and to enhance social sustainability and achieve sustainability enhancement [60]. Two articles linked social sustainability to the field of EcoHealth by stating that social sustainability underpins the field of EcoHealth and that the field of EcoHealth addresses issues that are related to social sustainability [37,113].…”