The impact of paludiculture on farmers' livelihoods

Abstract

All around the world peatlands are degrading which has worse effects on the climate, biodiversity, and farmers due to forest fires and weather extremes. Therefore, restoration practices are needed to restore these peatlands. One restoration method is paludiculture which is the ‘sustainable production of biomass on wet and rewetted peatlands' (Wichtmann and Joosten, 2007, p. 12). However, this means these farmers need to switch to a completely different way of farming which may impact livelihoods, including social and economic consequences. Therefore, it is important to examine the impact of paludiculture on farmers’ livelihoods.

This research addresses the question: What is the impact of paludiculture on farmers’ livelihoods? This question is answered through the lens of two case studies in Indonesia and Sweden. First, both the Peatland Restoration Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy were examined to examine how paludiculture is represented in the agricultural policies of Indonesia and Sweden. Then, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers and experts in Indonesia and Sweden. For Indonesia, farmers were interviewed from Tanjung Putri in Central Kalimantan, where they are currently conducting a paludiculture project in collaboration with BRGM. For Sweden, farmers who were not conducting paludiculture were interviewed from North and Central Sweden.

Findings show that paludiculture has several positive impacts such as improved food security, the presence of fishing, a decrease in floods and forest fires, an increase in education, and possibilities for cattle and hunting. Negative impacts include no inclusivity of other farmers in paludiculture, economic inequality, more dependency, and more rules. These impacts have different effects on different groups of farmers. For instance, the men of households with high economic status have more opportunities in terms of livelihoods and paludiculture. Young female farmers often do not own land, and it is hard to switch to paludiculture due to income restrictions. Small-scale farmers with low-income face similar issues. Age and education also play a role here, since paludiculture is a completely new way of agriculture which means that knowledge should be gained to conduct paludiculture, which is difficult for older farmers with low education. This research examined several positive and negative impacts paludiculture has on livelihoods. Paludiculture can be a method that can save both peatlands and livelihoods, but when implemented, it is important to remember the impact this method has on livelihoods.