Tracking Sustainability by Indexing and Mapping

Comparing different farm households and measuring their levels of sustainability is always difficult when information is available only in the form of desegregated indicators. Consequently, the SSI for each farm and the SPAM of the study area were computed and created. The use of SI (sustainable Index) as an assessment tool was not new, but the use of SSI and combining it with poverty mapping (in this case SPAM) was a new approach for guiding research and determining outcomes. The major advantage of this approach was that it provided a solution to the problem of estimations and predictions based on discrete and continuous measurement, which was needed to fully understand the causes and effects of the various dimension of poverty in space and time. It could also be interpreted visually to the understanding of stakeholders.

The sustainability index provided information on the degree of sustainability based on the aggregated index expressed using a range of values between zero (0) and one (1).

The indices of individual farm households were independent, making it possible to include additional farm households without altering the results and the explanatory power. This facilitated the monitoring of differences in time and space, while at the same time avoiding the ecological fallacy (Blalock, 1964). This approach helped to enhance the efficiency of poverty alleviation interventions and reduce leakage to the non-poor (Bigman and Srinvasan, 2002).

The geoprocessing model work-flow facilitated the assessment procedure when testing the sensitivity of criteria weightings. The SA provided a very useful and important reliability test of the model, as well as generating quantitative and visualisation criteria weight sensitivity analyses of individual aggregate dimensions and geographic space.

However, it did not necessarily assign a weight to every single criterion indicator independently of other dimensions. This was because each single indicator weight was assigned according to the weight assigned to the dimension (i.e., ecology and socio-economic-developmental) from which the indicator was derived. It would have been possible to conduct SA on the indicators weight independently from the dimension weights. However, conducting more SA would not necessarily improve the quality of the assessment method and the indicators used. It mainly demonstrated the relationship between criteria weights and performance scoring. The use of SA mainly served as a platform for checking the robustness of the final evaluation outcome against slight changes in the weights assigned to the criteria values.

92 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The conclusion and recommendation section was designed to reflect on the evaluation principles used in this study. Thus, the generic goal, as with most evaluation techniques, was to provide a conclusion that gave useful feedback.

This study has developed a versatile and systematic procedure of using Geospatial capabilities to assess agriculture-based poverty alleviation programmes. It was conceptualised in terms of sustainable development, which remains a challenging concept for researchers and development partners in general; because of the complexity of the interaction between humans and environmental factors and the difficulty to estimate and predict various issues. The major advantage of this approach was that it provided practical solution to the problem of estimations and predictions of inter-related variables, including both discrete and continuous measurement needed to fully understand the causes and effects of the various dimensions of poverty in space and time. This study demonstrated that, reliable and measurable indicators could be derived by developing a framework that links sustainable dimensions and criteria with the levels of analysis to locations and time. Locations, events, time, patterns and relationship were crucial in this procedure. I proposed the adoption of geoprocessing work-flow to facilitate the use of spatial factors in computing SSI and the SPAM. The capabilities of geoprocessing technique facilitated the validation of the outcome with SA. The creation of SSI and the SPAM allowed information to be easily visualised and understood by decision-makers and stakeholders to support informed and evidence-based decision-making.

Despite the identification of significant improvement in the livelihood of the targeted beneficiaries of ADRA’s present programme in the Ga West district in terms of infrastructural development, food-security, and poverty, less than a quarter of the household studied reached a ‘near-sustainable level; future productivity growth hinges on the preservation of natural resources.

The over-production of perceived short-term profitability crops such as cassava led to an increase in exploitative and non-sustainable rates of resource use. This also weakened or distorted the system leading to eventual lost of soil and water quality, which can adversely affect farm income and human-health in the long-term. Thus, over-reliance on cassava in most parts of the study area makes the yield/income less stable, and less resilient over the long-term. The logic of immediate survival discourages farmers from giving up regular short-term income for a greater continued future income. Both advisory and economic approaches seem to be the most promising interventions. However, further study is needed to identify alternative crops that will be suitable for the area concerned, considering their potential demand. More effort should also be made to highlight conservation measures that could maintain or improve productivity in the long-term, which must be linked to measures that improve productivity in the short-term.

The integration of pest management and a more rational or regulated use of pesticides would be helpful in curbing the over-use of pesticides and fertilisers. A monitoring task force could be formed in communities to monitor the supply of pesticides from sources other than ADRA, to avoid the erratic and reactive use of pesticides and fertiliser. Fertiliser product control measures need to be intensified. Less pest-infested mixed farms should also be assessed. Refuse collection and disposal was a major problem in the study area so communities should be encouraged to embark on more rigorous organic fertiliser programmes to reduce their over-reliance on mineral (inorganic) fertilisers.

ADRA is helping communities to reduce the process of soil erosion in the research area, but farmers need more education on appropriate farm management techniques. The study found that

93

farmers rarely perceived soil erosion as a pressing problem that could increase plant-stress, negative outcomes and loss of income. The results showed that plots along riverbanks had an impact on the quality of surface water. Thus, the monitoring of farm activities on riverbanks could minimise their impacts on natural ecosystems, where this must be conducted by qualified institutions. Frequent monitoring of the river water quality relative to different farming regimes should be performed. There needs to be a strict enforcement of environmental laws and regulations regarding riverbank farming activities. More regular public education is needed to educate communities on the adverse effects of their farming activities on water bodies, their health, and society as a whole.

The potential loss of farmland, as indicated in Section 3, requires the intervention of the Government of Ghana to safeguard farming activities and prevent possible land fragmentation in the Ga West district. The district falls within the Greater Accra Region and is close to the country’s capital, so only the intervention of the government can protect the communities from the on-going anthropogenic activities in the research area. The conversion of agricultural land to urban land use during the urbanization process has become a serious issue (Li and Yeh, 2000).

Laws and regulations need to be enacted to make the area a protected buffer zone for these vulnerable farmers.

To dispel the perception that ADRA tends to favour Adventist farmers when it comes to the distribution of farm inputs, extension services to households, and general interaction with the communities, ADRA workers should be encouraged to foster close relationships with all farmers in and outside farm activities. Workers need to make concerted efforts to regularly visit non-Adventist farmers and their families as much as they visit non-Adventist households.

The SPAM and the SSI applied in the present research area described the sustainability of agriculture-based poverty alleviation programmes within the framework of the following assumptions, which were critical to the research outcome:

x the concept of sustainable development

x the essential elements of agriculture-based poverty alleviation programmes derived from this concept (sustainable development)

x the precise definition of locations and events within the research area x the concept of poverty mapping

x the analysis of events in the research area and the elaboration of the hypothesis x the selection of indicators at various levels of analysis

x the selection of attributes for the index and mapping x the definition of weights and reference values.

x Sensibility analysis adopted to validate the outcome

The conclusions reached regarding the causes, effects, and sustainability of the agriculture-based poverty alleviation programme in the research area must be measured in the context of the assumptions described above. Making unequivocal assumptions is important when evaluating agriculture-based poverty alleviation programme, because any change in the assumptions can change the results. Thus, any replication of this research approach must be guided by the framework of these assumptions, especially in different conditions and locations.

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