Socioeconomic Analysis of Agroforestry and Livelihoods on a Small Island Developing State: A Case Study of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

Type Thesis or Dissertation - PhD Thesis
Title Socioeconomic Analysis of Agroforestry and Livelihoods on a Small Island Developing State: A Case Study of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2008
URL http://etd.fcla.edu/UF/UFE0022433/drew_w.pdf
Abstract
The Small Island Developing States (SIDS), comprising more than 50 nations and territories worldwide, are challenged to establish sustainable development strategies consistent with their small size, remoteness, and fragile and limited natural resources. Agriculture is considered instrumental in furthering sustainable development of SIDS. Agroforestry, an age-old agricultural practice dominates many landscapes among SIDS, proving its ecological sustainability; yet little is known (quantitatively) about productivity, value, and use of agroforests or the role agroforestry plays in the livelihoods of SIDS. Such information is important to ensure that decision makers are able to establish sustainable programs for economic development. Research conducted on Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, documented livelihood systems, quantified agricultural activities, and simulated the impact of potential policy scenarios on both agroforestry and livelihood systems. Sixty-four percent of households relied on three or more sources for cash income; the main income sources included formal employment, agriculture, remittances/pensions, and fishing. One-hundred percent of households were engaged in subsistence agriculture, and 88% and 90% of households used crops for cash income and ceremonial purposes, respectively. Homegarden agroforestry practices provided between 24% and 98% of the total value of agricultural products. Agroforests contributed, per household, an average of $4,242 yr-1 and island-wide contributed 18% to Pohnpei’s GDP (total annual value of $15.7 million). Limited market access was found to increase dependence on crops for cash income. In contrast formal employment was found to reduce dependence on crops for cash income. Using ethnographic linear programming, the results suggested that establishing a price policy and/or expanding market opportunities would contribute directly to households most reliant on agriculture for cash income but would have only marginal impacts on households reliant on fishing, remittances, and formal employment for cash income. Use of an expanded version of the traditional Policy Analysis Matrix methodology allowed for the internalization of environmental externalities contributing to a more accurate analysis of farming systems.

The results showed that even with such internalization of economic values, it would require additional policy action to provide sufficient incentives to persuade farmers to halt expansion into Pohnpei’s uplands where ecological damage had been occurring. Desires for greater material wealth are threatening traditional cultures and limited natural resources on Pohnpei and SIDS world-wide. For those SIDS where agroforestry remains an important component of livelihood systems, development strategies should emphasize using agroforestry as a foundation for agricultural development as opposed to introducing new agricultural systems that have yet to prove their ecological or economic sustainability and/or superiority. To achieve development goals for all members of an island’s society, it is critical to tailor development strategies to specific livelihood systems.

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