Understanding How Smallholders Integrated into Pericoupled and Telecoupled Systems

Yue Dou*, Ramon Felipe Bicudo da Silva, Paul McCord, Julie Zaehringer, Hongbo Yang, Paul Furumo, Jian Zhang, J. Cristóbal Pizarro, Jianguo Liu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Increasing connections and influences from near to far have changed social structures, access to natural resources, and essential livelihoods of smallholders (i.e., those with incomes generated primarily from natural resources on small rural properties). However, the potential benefits and negative impacts from these connections to smallholders' livelihoods and social-ecological effects remain understudied. In this paper, we applied the frameworks of pericoupling and telecoupling (human-nature interactions between adjacent and distant systems, respectively) to systematically investigate how the flows linking smallholder systems to other systems affect their livelihoods, and causing varying economic, social, and environmental effects from case to case. We synthesized 12 cases of smallholder systems around the world that are linked to adjacent and distant systems through flows of goods, people, resources, and/or information. In each case, we summarized smallholders' agency, i.e., capability on the formation or operation of these flows, and the changes on livelihoods on the economic, social, and environment effects. Results suggest that strong smallholder agency is associated more with positive than negative effects. Smallholders with medium to high agency have greater overall well-being within the area of interest. Smallholders integrated in pericoupled systems often have strong agency. Being spillover systems in an intercoupled system (e.g., large-scale agricultural investments) can often cause negative outcomes unless smallholders have additional pericoupling flows. Our findings suggest one potential approach to ending poverty and increasing well-being for smallholders is creating and increasing pericoupling flows to empower smallholders for desired livelihood and social-ecological outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1596
Pages (from-to)1-21
Number of pages21
JournalSustainability
Volume12
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Feb 2020

Funding

This research was funded by National Science Foundation Award [DEB-1518518], Complex Dynamics of Telecoupled Human and Natural Systems, and by National Science Foundation Award [1924111], Uncovering Metacoupled Socio-Environmental Systems; Michigan AgBioResearch; Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do Estado de S?o Paulo (FAPESP), grant numbers 15/25892-7 and 14/50628-9; J.G.Z. was supported by the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d programme), which is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), under Grant No. 400440 152167. The authors would like to thank Sue Nichols and anonymous reviewers who provided valuable comments on an earlier draft, as well as people who participated in all the survey and data collection for every case study used in this article. Funding: This research was funded by National Science Foundation Award [DEB-1518518], Complex Dynamics of Telecoupled Human and Natural Systems, and by National Science Foundation Award [1924111], Uncovering Metacoupled Socio-Environmental Systems; Michigan AgBioResearch; Funda\u00E7\u00E3o de Amparo \u00E0 Pesquisa do Estado de S\u00E3o Paulo (FAPESP), grant numbers 15/25892-7 and 14/50628-9; J.G.Z. was supported by the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d programme), which is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), under Grant No. 400440 152167.

FundersFunder number
Michigan AgBioResearch
Uncovering Metacoupled Socio-Environmental Systems
National Science FoundationDEB-1518518, 1924111
National Science Foundation
Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit400440 152167
Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo15/25892-7, 14/50628-9
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

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