Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems

by Thomas Gitau, Margaret W. Gitau, David Waltner-Toews

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420072778
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/10/2008
Series:	Advances in Agroecology
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Thomas Gitau, Margaret W. Gitau, David Waltner-Toews

Table of Contents

General Introduction. Design and Implementation of an Adaptive, Integrated Approach to Health and Sustainability in a Smallholder-Dominated Agroecosystem. Community Participation and the Integration of Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability Concerns into Practical Decision Making. Use of Systems Theory, Directed Graphs, and Pulse Process Models in an Adaptive Approach to Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability. Soft System Methodology in the Management of Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability Concerns of a Tropical Highlands Agroecosystem. Development of Health and Sustainability Indicators for a Tropical Highlands Agroecosystem. An Assessment of Health and Sustainability of a Smallholder-Dominated Tropical Highlands Ecosystem. General Discussion. General Conclusions. Appendices. Index.

Editorial Reviews

From the Foreword
“This welcome volume on agricultural sustainability … is authored by innovative scientists well-known in their fields … It is clearly written and provides a great deal of practical information as well as addresses theoretical and systems issues in depth.”
—Clive A. Edwards, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA

From the Publisher