Question

Suppose that an armed conflict in a developing country leaves agricultural land in a deplorable state. How does the deterioration in land quality affect the labor market for agricultural workers? Draw a diagram and explain

Answer 1

Land cover and land‐use patterns on Earth reflect the interaction of human activities and the natural environment.Human population growth together with competitive land use causes land scarcity, conversion of wild lands to agriculture and other uses. As we can see, the anthropogenic factor has an important impact on land use and land cover changes. Given this human influence, especially during the past 100 years, the recent period has been called the Anthropocene Age.Human influence on the land and other natural resources is accelerating because of rapid population growth and increasing food requirements. The increasing agricultural intensity generates pressure not only on land resources but also across the whole environment. These factors make agriculture a top‐priority sector for both economic and environmental policy.Comprehensive assessment of the agriculture is a challenging task. There are different possibilities and methods for such assessment. To stress the interactions between society and the environment, the DPSIR framework approach is used for analyzing and assessing the influence of agriculture on land use and environment with emphasis on Slovakia.

Within integrated environmental assessment a framework is used, which distinguish driving forces (D), pressures (P), states (S), impacts (I), and response (R). This is known as the DPSIR model. As the model can capture the cause–effect relationships between the economic, social, and environmental sectors, it has been widely applied to analyze the interacting processes of human‐environmental systems.

The DPSIR model originated from the pressure–state–response (PSR) framework, which was developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Later it was elaborated by European Environment Agency .Environmental indicators should reflect all elements of the chain between human activities, their environmental impacts, and the societal responses to these impacts.

The DPSIR model was used to identify a series of core indicators and to establish the nature of interactions between the different driving forces, pressures, states, impacts, and responses, and thus to assess the agriculture and its impact on land use, environment, and ecosystem services .

Driving forces

With the growing world population the requirements are grown to cover the food demand. Human expansion throughout the world caused that agriculture is a dominant form of land management globally, and agricultural ecosystems cover nearly 40% of the terrestrial surface of the Earth. Agricultural ecosystems are interlinked with rural areas where more than 3 billion people live, almost half of the world's population. Roughly 2.5 billion of these rural people derive their livelihoods from agriculture. Thus, population and land‐use trends are considered to be the main driving forces for agriculture. Besides these driving forces, EEA further distinguished the so‐called external and internal driving forces originating from market trends, technological and social changes, as well as the policy framework.For many economies, especially those of developing countries, agriculture can be an important engine—driving force—of economic growth. Approximately three‐quarters of the world's agricultural value added is generated in developing countries where agriculture constitutes the backbone of the economy. But not only in the developing countries but also in the developed countries agriculture has always been the precursor to the rise of industry and services.

Population trend

In the twentieth century, the world population grew four times Although demographic growth rates have been slowing since the late 1970s, the world's population has doubled since then, to approximately 7 billion people currently and is projected to increase to over 9 billion by 2050. But already millions people are still suffering from hunger and malnutrition. The latest available estimates indicate that about 795 million people in the world (just over one in nine) were undernourished in 2014–2016. Since 1990–1992, the number of undernourished people has declined by 216 million globally, a reduction of 21.4%. The vast majority of the hungry people live in the developing regions. The overall hunger reduction trends in the developing countries since 1990–1992 are connected with changes in large populous countries (China, India.

Land use

The global land area is 13.2 billion ha. Of this, 12% (1.6 billion ha) is currently in use for cultivation of agricultural crops, 28% (3.7 billion ha) is under forest, and 35% (4.6 billion ha) comprises grasslands and woodland ecosystems. The world's cultivated area has grown by 12% over the past 50 years. Globally, about 0.23 ha of land is cultivated per head of the world's population. In 1960, it was 0.5 ha of cropland per capita worldwide. In Europe, about one‐half of land is farmed and arable land is the most common form of agricultural land. Twenty‐five percent of Europe's land is covered by arable land and permanent crops, 17% by pastures and mixed mosaics, and 35% by forests. The average amount of cropland and pasture land per capita in 1970 was 0.4 and 0.8 ha and by 2010 this had decreased to 0.2 and 0.5 ha per capita, respectively. Such a state is a result of dynamic land‐use and land‐cover changes. Humans have altered land cover for centuries, but recent rates of change are higher than ever .

Abstract

Human expansion throughout the world caused that agriculture is a dominant form of land management globally. Human influence on the land is accelerating because of rapid population growth and increasing food requirements. To stress the interactions between society and the environment, the driving forces (D), pressures (P), states (S), impacts (I), and response (R) (DPSIR) framework approach was used for analyzing and assessing the influence of agriculture on land use, environment, and ecosystem services. The DPSIR model was used to identify a series of core indicators and to establish the nature of interactions between different driving forces, pressures, states, impacts, and responses. We assessed selected indicators at global, national, and local levels. Driving force indicators describe growing population trend and linking land‐use patterns. The driving forces exert pressure on the environment assessed by indicators describing development in fertilizer and pesticides consumption, by number of livestock, and by intensification joined growing release of ammonia and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture, and water abstraction. The pressure reflects in the state of environment, mainly expressed by soil and water quality indicators. Negative changes in the state then have negative impacts on landscape, e.g., traditional landscape disappearance, biodiversity, climate, and ecosystem services. As a response, technological, economic, policy, or legislation measures are adopted.

Keywords

• Agriculture
• land use
• environment
• ecosystem service
• DPSIR model

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1. Introduction

Land cover and land‐use patterns on Earth reflect the interaction of human activities and the natural environment [1]. Human population growth together with competitive land use causes land scarcity, conversion of wild lands to agriculture and other uses. As we can see, the anthropogenic factor has an important impact on land use and land cover changes. Given this human influence, especially during the past 100 years, the recent period has been called the Anthropocene Age [2]. Human influence on the land and other natural resources is accelerating because of rapid population growth and increasing food requirements. The increasing agricultural intensity generates pressure not only on land resources but also across the whole environment. These factors make agriculture a top‐priority sector for both economic and environmental policy.

Comprehensive assessment of the agriculture is a challenging task. There are different possibilities and methods for such assessment. To stress the interactions between society and the environment, the DPSIR framework approach is used for analyzing and assessing the influence of agriculture on land use and environment with emphasis on Slovakia.

2. Methodology

Figure 1.

DPSIR model for agriculture and environment.

Within integrated environmental assessment a framework is used, which distinguish driving forces (D), pressures (P), states (S), impacts (I), and response (R). This is known as the DPSIR model. As the model can capture the cause–effect relationships between the economic, social, and environmental sectors, it has been widely applied to analyze the interacting processes of human‐environmental systems [3]. The DPSIR model originated from the pressure–state–response (PSR) framework, which was developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [4]. Later it was elaborated by European Environment Agency [5]. Environmental indicators should reflect all elements of the chain between human activities, their environmental impacts, and the societal responses to these impacts [6].

The DPSIR model was used to identify a series of core indicators and to establish the nature of interactions between the different driving forces, pressures, states, impacts, and responses, and thus to assess the agriculture and its impact on land use, environment, and ecosystem services (Figure 1). More attention was paid to Slovakia. We assessed selected indicators at global, national (country Slovakia), and local (cadastre Liptovská Teplička (LT)) level. Slovakia is located in central Europe and covers an area of 49,035 km². It is largely located in the mountain territory of the western Carpathian arch. The climate is temperate. Despite the mountain character of the majority of the Slovak territory, there were suitable conditions for agricultural development. The Slovak rural territory represents 87% of the total land area and the Slovak rural population represents 43.7% of the total population. Liptovská Teplička (LT) cadastre is located in the northern part of Slovakia where Low Tatras is adjacent to the Liptov basin with elevation over 900 m above sea level. Mean annual temperature is 5°C, and mean annual precipitation is 900 mm.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Driving forces

With the growing world population the requirements are grown to cover the food demand. Human expansion throughout the world caused that agriculture is a dominant form of land management globally, and agricultural ecosystems cover nearly 40% of the terrestrial surface of the Earth. Agricultural ecosystems are interlinked with rural areas where more than 3 billion people live, almost half of the world's population. Roughly 2.5 billion of these rural people derive their livelihoods from agriculture. Thus, population and land‐use trends are considered to be the main driving forces for agriculture. Besides these driving forces, EEA [7] further distinguished the so‐called external and internal driving forces originating from market trends, technological and social changes, as well as the policy framework.

For many economies, especially those of developing countries, agriculture can be an important engine—driving force—of economic growth. Approximately three‐quarters of the world's agricultural value added is generated in developing countries where agriculture constitutes the backbone of the economy. But not only in the developing countries but also in the developed countries agriculture has always been the precursor to the rise of industry and services [8].

3.1.1. Population trend

In the twentieth century, the world population grew four times [9]. Although demographic growth rates have been slowing since the late 1970s, the world's population has doubled since then, to approximately 7 billion people currently and is projected to increase to over 9 billion by 2050. But already millions people are still suffering from hunger and malnutrition. The latest available estimates indicate that about 795 million people in the world (just over one in nine) were undernourished in 2014–2016. Since 1990–1992, the number of undernourished people has declined by 216 million globally, a reduction of 21.4%. The vast majority of the hungry people live in the developing regions. The overall hunger reduction trends in the developing countries since 1990–1992 are connected with changes in large populous countries (China, India) [10]. Paradoxically, most of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition are in rural areas and only 20% are in city slums. According to FAO, 50% of them are small peasants, 20% are landless, 10% are nomadic herdsmen or small fishermen, and 20% live in city slums. In the developing countries, this rural social class is, above all, often a victim of marginalization and exclusion from its governing classes (political, economic, and financial) as well as from the urban milieu where there is a concentration of power and knowledge, and therefore money, including funds for development. Often the urban and rural worlds are separated. Whereas in the EU the farming population constitutes only 5% of the total population, it is about 50% in China, 60% in India, and between 60 and 80% in sub‐Saharan Africa [11].

In past, Slovakia was typical agrarian country. Even during the nineteenth century the vast majority of the population worked in agriculture, but with the beginning of the twentieth century the decreasing trend began and continued to the present. In 1921, 60.4% of the working population was engaged in agriculture, after 1945, it was 48.1%. In 2012, 50,400 people worked in agriculture [12] which represented 2.2% of the working population, and 2.76 workers worked per 100 ha of agricultural land which was less than EU‐27 average (8.81 workers per 100 ha of agricultural land) [13].

3.1.2. Land use

The global land area is 13.2 billion ha. Of this, 12% (1.6 billion ha) is currently in use for cultivation of agricultural crops, 28% (3.7 billion ha) is under forest, and 35% (4.6 billion ha) comprises grasslands and woodland ecosystems. The world's cultivated area has grown by 12% over the past 50 years. Globally, about 0.23 ha of land is cultivated per head of the world's population [14]. In 1960, it was 0.5 ha of cropland per capita worldwide. In Europe, about one‐half of land is farmed and arable land is the most common form of agricultural land. Twenty‐five percent of Europe's land is covered by arable land and permanent crops, 17% by pastures and mixed mosaics, and 35% by forests. The average amount of cropland and pasture land per capita in 1970 was 0.4 and 0.8 ha and by 2010 this had decreased to 0.2 and 0.5 ha per capita, respectively [15].

Such a state is a result of dynamic land‐use and land‐cover changes. Humans have altered land cover for centuries, but recent rates of change are higher than ever.

Land‐use change reflected in land‐cover change and land‐cover change is a main component of global environmental change. affecting climate, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, which in turn affect land‐use decision. Land‐use change is always caused by multiple interacting factors. The mix of driving forces of land‐use change varies in time and space.

Pressure

Agriculture in the last century has evolved from self‐sufficiency to surplus in some parts of the world. Thus, transformation was connected with intensification and specialization of production as main trends in European or North American agriculture accompanied by negative impact on the environment. Agricultural intensification is defined as higher levels of inputs and increased output of cultivated or reared products per unit area and time.

Intensification and specialization of agriculture

Intensification and specialization have been predominant trends in EU countries including Slovakia for several decades. Between 1965 and 2000 there was a 6.87‐fold increase in nitrogen fertilization, a 3.48‐fold increase in phosphorous fertilization while irrigated land area expanded 1.68 times, contributing to a 10% net increase in land in cultivation. Strong intensification in Europe in contrast to other countries is obvious if we compare selected indicators, e.g., fertilizer consumption or livestock density.

Fertilizer consumption in 2012 (kg/ha of agricultural land) (based on data from OECD.

Livestock density in 2012 (live animals/km2 of agricultural land) (based on data from OECD

Development in fertilizer consumption in Slovakia (kg pure nutrient/ha) (based on data from CCTIA

Development in number of livestock in Slovakia (live animals/ha of agricultural land) (based on data from SOSR.

Global GHG annual agriculture emissions (MtCO2eq) (based on data from Tubiello et al.

Emissions from agriculture in Slovakia (Gg) (based on data from MESR, SEA .

State

Intensive management practices in agriculture escalating rates of land degradation threatens most crop and pasture land throughout the world. Worldwide, more than 12 million hectares of productive arable land are severely degraded and abandoned annually. Increased pressure is connected with deterioration of the state of environment, mainly soil and water.

Soil

Soil is the most fundamental asset on farms. Its quality that directly affects provisioning ecosystem services is strongly affected by management practices. The state of soils can be assessed by the help of indicators on soil contamination, erosion, and compaction.

Water

Agriculture is both cause and victim of water pollution. Evidence for elevated nitrate and phosphate contents on farm, in drains, streams and rivers, and lakes is partial and tends to be specific to a given location and circumstance. Global phosphorus flux to the ocean increased 3‐fold to about 22 Tg per year by the end of the twentieth century.

Impact

Impacts are commonly the result of multiple stressors. Agriculture exerts pressure on the environment that is both beneficial and harmful and can result in both positive and negative environmental impacts. The wide variation in farming systems and practices throughout the world, and differing environmental characteristics mean that the effects of agriculture on the environment arise at site‐specific level but can have impacts at local to global level.

note: Above the explanation of this diagram.