Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
8-2020
Abstract
For agriculture and land management to improve natural capital over whole landscapes, social cooperation has long been required. The political economy of the later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries prioritized unfettered individual action over the collective, and many rural institutions were harmed or destroyed. Since then, a wide range of social movements, networks and federations have emerged to support transitions towards sustainability and equity. Here, we focus on social capital manifested as intentionally formed collaborative groups within specific geographic territories. These groups focus on: (1) integrated pest management; (2) forests; (3) land; (4) water; (5) pastures; (6) support services; (7) innovation platforms; and (8) small-scale systems. We show across 122 initiatives in 55 countries that the number of groups has grown from 0.50 million (in 2000) to 8.54 million (in 2020). The area of land transformed by the 170–255 million group members is 300 Mha, mostly in less-developed countries (98% groups; 94% area). Farmers and land managers working with scientists and extensionists in these groups have improved both environmental outcomes and agricultural productivity. In some cases, changes to national or regional policy supported this growth in groups. Together with other movements, these social groups could now support further transitions towards policies and behaviours for global sustainability.
Keywords
Collective management, Land management, Social capital, Social groups, Sustainable agriculture
Discipline
Agricultural and Resource Economics | Political Science
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Global Sustainability
Volume
3
First Page
1
Last Page
16
ISSN
2059-4798
Identifier
10.1017/sus.2020.19
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Embargo Period
6-16-2021
Citation
Jules, Pretty, Attwood, Simon, Bawden, Richard, van den Berg, Henk, Bharucha, Zareen P., & RICKS, Jacob I..(2020). Assessment of the growth in social groups for sustainable agriculture and land management. Global Sustainability, 3, 1-16.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3314
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2020.19