TY - JOUR
T1 - “We will change whether we want it or not”
T2 - Soil erosion in Maasai land as a social dilemma and a challenge to community resilience
AU - Rabinovich, Anna
AU - Kelly, Claire
AU - Wilson, Geoff
AU - Nasseri, Mona
AU - Ngondya, Issakwisa
AU - Patrick, Aloyce
AU - Blake, William H.
AU - Mtei, Kelvin
AU - Munishi, Linus
AU - Ndakidemi, Patrick
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/10/31
Y1 - 2019/10/31
N2 - Soil erosion is a major environmental challenge that undermines economic development in many regions of the world. While much previous work explored physical processes behind this problem, less attention has been paid to social, cultural, and psychological parameters that make a significant impact on soil erosion through the land use practices that they support. The present paper addresses this gap by conducting a qualitative exploration of agro-pastoralist stakeholders' experiences of soil erosion in northern Tanzania, using the community resilience framework and the social dilemmas approach as theoretical lenses. Interview data suggests that the factors that make communities vulnerable to soil erosion challenges include the centrality of cattle keeping practice to pastoralists’ cultural identity, lack of social cohesion, lack of alternative livelihood opportunities, and weak governance structures. We argue that the ways towards resolving the dilemma lie in addressing relevant cultural norms, building cohesive and open communities, and strengthening local governance.
AB - Soil erosion is a major environmental challenge that undermines economic development in many regions of the world. While much previous work explored physical processes behind this problem, less attention has been paid to social, cultural, and psychological parameters that make a significant impact on soil erosion through the land use practices that they support. The present paper addresses this gap by conducting a qualitative exploration of agro-pastoralist stakeholders' experiences of soil erosion in northern Tanzania, using the community resilience framework and the social dilemmas approach as theoretical lenses. Interview data suggests that the factors that make communities vulnerable to soil erosion challenges include the centrality of cattle keeping practice to pastoralists’ cultural identity, lack of social cohesion, lack of alternative livelihood opportunities, and weak governance structures. We argue that the ways towards resolving the dilemma lie in addressing relevant cultural norms, building cohesive and open communities, and strengthening local governance.
KW - Commons dilemma
KW - Community cohesion
KW - Community resilience
KW - Cultural identity
KW - Land use practice
KW - Soil erosion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074337239&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/gees-research/article/1157/viewcontent/Accepted_20manuscript_201_20Nov_202019.pdf
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101365
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101365
M3 - Article
SN - 0272-4944
VL - 66
JO - Journal of Environmental Psychology
JF - Journal of Environmental Psychology
IS - 0
M1 - 101365
ER -