E-Book Overview
Exploring the implementation of participatory, multistakeholder, and transdisciplinary ecosystem health research, Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems combines the latest theories in complexity and management with practical tools and approaches for sustainable rural development research. Although the text focuses on smallholder farming communities in the central highlands of Kenya, the material discussed can be—and has been—effectively applied to agroecosystems in many other parts of the world. After showing how the agroecosystem health framework was successfully adapted in a smallholder-dominated agroecosystem, the book integrates participatory methods, systems analyses, pulse process models, and soft systems methods in an open-ended, adaptive R&D process. It then looks at how to use correspondence analysis to refine a research-based suite of indicators and analyze data obtained using indicators. Incorporating the authors’ pioneering work in the ecosystem health field, this book demonstrates the potential of the agroecosystem health paradigm as a framework in the decision-making processes of agricultural communities in a tropical highlands area.
E-Book Content
Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems Advances in Agroecology Series Editor: Clive A. Edwards Agroecosystems in a Changing Climate Paul C.D. Newton, R. Andrew Carran, Grant R. Edwards, and Pascal A. Niklaus Agroecosystem Sustainability: Developing Practical Strategies Stephen R. Gliessman Agroforestry in Sustainable Agricultural Systems Louise E. Buck, James P. Lassoie, and Erick C.M. Fernandes Biodiversity in Agroecosystems Wanda Williams Collins and Calvin O. Qualset Interactions Between Agroecosystems and Rural Communities Cornelia Flora Landscape Ecology in Agroecosystems Management Lech Ryszkowski Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Agroecosystems Mario Giampietro Soil Ecology in Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lijbert Brussaard and Ronald Ferrera-Cerrato Soil Organic Matter in Sustainable Agriculture Fred Magdoff and Ray R. Weil Soil Tillage in Agroecosystems Adel El Titi Structure and Function in Agroecosystem Design and Management Masae Shiyomi and Hiroshi Koizumi Tropical Agroecosystems John H. Vandermeer Advisory Board Editor-in-Chief Clive A. Edwards The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Editorial Board Miguel Altieri, University of California, Berkeley, CA Lijbert Brussaard, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands David Coleman, University of Georgia, Athens, GA D.A. Crossley, Jr., University of Georgia, Athens, GA Adel El-Titi, Stuttgart, Germany Charles A. Francis, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE Stephen R. Gliessman, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA Thurman Grove, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC Maurizio Paoletti, University of Padova, Padova, Italy David Pimentel, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Masae Shiyomi, Ibaraki University, Mito, Japan Sir Colin R.W. Spedding, Berkshire, England Moham K. Wali, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems Thomas Gitau Margaret W. Gitau David Waltner-Toews Boca Raton London New York CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4200-7277-8 (Hardcover) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish re