Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Nutrient budgets, soil fertility management and livelihood analysis in Northeast Thailand : a basis for integrated rural development strategies in developing countries

Auteur : Wijnhoud J.D.

Université de soutenance : Wageningen Universiteit

Grade : PhD thesis 2007

Résumé partiel
InNortheast Thailand, the sustainability of rainfed lowland rice-based systems, the dominant land-use system (LUS) in the region, is a concern for livelihood development in this relatively poor area of the country. Poor soil fertility and low inputs are considered major causes of the sustainability problems. Similar problems exist for a wide range of LUS in the developing world. Reversal of such developments requires integrated rural development strategies aimed at breaking the environment-poverty downward spiral. The key hypothesis for this thesis is that, efficient and effective, rural-development strategies, aimed at the twin-objectives of sustainable natural resource management (SNRM) and improved and sustainable livelihood development, require ’innovative’, i.e. more participatory, integrated and holistic approaches, while following a strict priority setting by combining holistic concepts and a small selected set of participatory, integrated and/or complementary analyses to keep efforts manageable and result-oriented. The challenge therefore is to find the appropriate balance between on one hand the demand for more comprehensive contextual and integrated analyses and on the other hand the requirement to keep such efforts manageable in terms of human , material and financial resources. The key hypothesis was partly tested in a collaborative research and development (R&D) programme inNortheast Thailand. Additional evidence was based on literature study and later experiences, including work in sub-SaharanAfrica. The introductory chapter elaborates relevant concepts, principles and approaches, such as the multiple dimensions of SNRM, the sustainable livelihood concept and approach (SLC/A) and nutrient balance analyses, which are useful for the work in Northeast Thailand, but also - often even more essential - for development strategies in the least developed countries (LDCs) of the world.

Mots clés : soil fertility / nutrients / rural development / developing countries / soil management / nutrient balance / sustainability / thailand / rainfed agriculture / livelihood strategies

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