Zimmerer, K. S., E. F. B. Lambin, and S. J. Vanek. 2018. Smallholder telecoupling and potential sustainability. Ecology and Society 23(1):30. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09935-230130

Soils of the Andean highlands are under threat from cropping system intensification. Improved forage-based fallows offer great promise to address this issue, but research is needed to better understand the potential of species mixtures vs. monocultures to support multiple farmer objectives, especially forage production and soil conservation. We used a pot study to quantify above- and belowground biomass production as well as the total N uptake of grass–legume pairs between five grasses: (1) oat (Avena sativa), (2) ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), (3) festulolium (Lolium × Festuca genera), (4) brome grass (Bromus catharticus), and (5) orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), and four legumes: (1) vetch (Vicia dasycarpa), (2) red clover (Trifolium pratense), (3) black medic (Medicago lupulina), and (4) alfalfa (Medicago sativa) relative to the performance of each species in monoculture within two soils from the central Peruvian Andes. Grass–legume bicultures demonstrated significant overyielding, producing 65% and 28% more total dry biomass and total N uptake on average than monocultures. Aboveground biomass of bicultures was significantly influenced by the species of legume present, while belowground biomass was more affected by the grass species in the mixture. When evaluating the growth of each species separately, our findings indicate that overyielding was driven more by the enhanced growth of grasses relative to legumes. Our findings indicate that combining key functional groups (e.g., grass and legume, annual and perennial) offers great promise for developing improved fallows for supporting soil health and productivity in Andean agroecosystems.

Soil fertility in agricultural landscapes is driven by complex interactions between natural and anthropogenic processes, with organic matter (OM) inputs playing a critical role. Asymmetric allocation patterns of these resources among communities and within individual farms can lead to soil fertility gradients. However, the drivers and consequences of such patterns in different socioecological contexts remains poorly documented and understood. The objective of this study was to address this gap by assessing asymmetric OM allocation patterns and the associated consequences for soil fertility management in three indigenous communities located in the Central Ecuadorian Andes. We found that both distance from homestead and perception of fertility were associated with asymmetric OM allocation patterns to fields as well as with soil fertility gradients within farms. For example, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), and exchangeable potassium (K) all decreased with distance from the homestead, while SOC, total N, and available P were positively correlated with a farmer's perception of soil fertility. We note that these fertility gradients remained even in the case of increased farm‐level OM inputs. Overall OM allocation patterns differed significantly among communities and were associated with significant differences in soil fertility, with the highest levels of available P and exchangeable K found in the community with the highest OM inputs. The results of this study indicate the importance of asymmetric OM allocation patterns encountered at different scales, both within farms and among neighboring communities, in rural Andean landscapes and their significant interactions with soil fertility gradients.

This study analyses the experience and response of farmers within a multi-year collaborative research trial focused on the development of forage-based fallows in eight communities in the central Peruvian Andes. Quantitative data from a rural household survey were used to characterize farming household socioeconomic factors, livelihood strategies and soil and crop management practices of community members belonging to four participation groups with respect to the trials: 1) current participants near the end of the trial; 2.) those who participated early on, but dropped the trials after the first year; 3) those who participated in meetings but not directly in experiments; and 4) those who never participated meaningfully in the process. Furthermore, qualitative interviews of farmers in the four groups were used to examine trends and questions arising from the quantitative survey findings. Analysis of this mixed-methods dataset showed that better resource-endowed households (in terms of human and social capital, more livestock assets, higher levels of farm value production and income, and farm inputs) tended to be more likely to participate compared to households with lower levels of these variables. Our findings suggest that the differences in resource endowment among participation group households may be related to household life cycles, where access to resources change over time, reflecting the changing demography of a household. It was established that farm households with intermediate-age children, that is near the middle of a farm life cycle trajectory, are those with the most wherewithal to participate in trials and likely serve as examples and test cases for other farms with younger parents or older farmers with children moved away. Follow-up interviews indicated that farming households at either end of the farm life cycle trajectory may be using a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to the trials carried out by their neighbours who have more labour and other resources to deploy. In light of these findings, we suggest that participatory research should aim to ensure that the voices, challenges and opportunities of Non-participants are represented in the research process and experimental design. Additionally, greater consideration should be placed on understanding management by context issues in order to better target potential farming innovations such as improved fallows, at multiple levels, from the field to the household and to the community and beyond.