Socio-economic determinants of land degradation in Pishin sub-basin, Pakistan

Abstract

Agriculture is the mainstay of rural populations, especially in the developing world. Increasing population and the demand for food, fodder and fuelwood have threatened the sustainability of the land resources. Without understanding farmers' perceptions on land-related issues, sustainable management of land resources is impossible because they have intimate knowledge of their land. Besides technical solutions to land-related problems, socio-economic appraisal also plays an important role for solutions to these problems. Therefore, the objectives of this article are to find farmers' perceptions on land degradation and to examine the socio-economic determinants of land degradation in the study area. In this study, a structured questionnaire was used to collect information on different socio-economic parameters affecting land degradation and farmers' perceptions on the status of land degradation in Pishin sub-basin, Pakistan. Farmers' perceptions are presented using simple descriptive statistics, whereas socio-economic determinants of land degradation in the study area were investigated using a binary logistic regression technique. The model predicted seven determinants of land degradation in the study area: household size, number of educated male members in the household, frequency of visits of extension workers, security of tenure, access to credit, cropping pattern and livestock population.

The role of social learning for soil conservation: the case of Amba Zuria land management, Ethiopia

“…Moreover, this has enabled a change in the conventional expert-led approach of the agricultural extension system. The effectiveness of farmers' organisations for the adoption of stone terraces was also confirmed in the study of Qasim et al (2011). In addition, the participation of farmers in their group enabled the involvement of more farmers in the learning process.…”

Assessment of wetland ecosystem health in Lower Songkhram, Thailand

“…Uhlenbrook et al 1998;Walmsley et al 2001;Donnelly et al 2007;He et al 2007;Qasim et al 2011). Thus, socio-economic data on 14 variables from the questionnaires were converted into numerical values (from 1 to 7) and further analysed to determine the ecosystem health using multivariate analysis.…”

“…The other households were engaged in wage labour (104 households), local employment (52 households) or as government officers (34 households). Thus, the data collected mainly represent members of the agricultural sector who are more closely bonded to the wetland ecosystem dominated by agricultural land use (Qasim et al 2011). The questionnaire involved both qualitative and quantitative data (synonymously used as variables hereafter), such as population growth, education, employment, participation in the local community, urban development, industrial development, tourism, traditions, local community awareness, local policy, institutional capacity, degree of information available, planning concepts and unsustainable use of Downloaded by [Dalhousie University] at 14:59 26 December 2014 wetland resources leading to decreases in water quality, soil degradation and erosion.…”

Assessing the relative impacts of the factors affecting MIS adoption process

“…Adoption of new technologies such as micro-irrigation systems (MIS), water harvesting (WH) and soil and water conservation (SWC), which reduce exploitation of land and water resources and enhance agricultural production, are therefore essential in enhancing agricultural productivity and food security (Qasim et al 2011;Maertens & Barrett 2012;Martínez-Espiñeira & García-Valiñas 2013;*Corresponding author. Email: drpushpwrd@gmail.com International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 2015Vol.…”