Editorial Introduction to Volume IV 11be given. Rather, they show that some unintended negative consequences of heavy
subsidies actually undermine watershed development objectives. The problem is
that subsidies are used to achieve both watershed development and employment
generation, a lot to ask of any policy intervention. The consequences on the ground
can be severe – villagers may praise contour bunds for water conservation when in
the presence of government officials, yet destroy them when they leave. Villagers
also agree that they would happily engage in inappropriate soil and water conser-
vation activities if these were a way to obtain additional employment. Kerr and
colleagues suggest alternative ways to manage subsidies for watershed develop-
ment.
The third paper by Thomas Dobbs and Jules Pretty is an analysis of the effec-
tiveness of agrienvironmental schemes in the UK. Agriculture is now being seen
more as a multifunctional activity – it does more than just produce food. The side
effects, both positive and negative, have important implications on local and
national ecological and social systems. This idea of multifunctionality is now being
internalized into policies so that financial support can be used to encourage the
flow of environmental goods and services from specific landscapes. The UK intro-
duced the first agrienvironmental scheme in the European Union (EU) in 1986,
and since then it has developed and implemented several other schemes that also
feature stewardship payments to improve agriculture’s environmental perform-
ance. In this article, lessons learned from the UK’s various agrienvironmental pro-
grammes are identified. The paper examines three key sets of issues associated with
possible major expansions of stewardship payment programmes. These issues con-
cern: (1) the compatibility of production support and stewardship support; (2)
balancing stewardship payments and environmental compliance; and (3) the com-
patibility of World Trade Organization rules with stewardship schemes. Using the
concept of ‘multifunctionality’, which increasingly is influencing agricultural pol-
icy in Europe, the authors examine key issues associated with potential major
expansions of stewardship payment schemes on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ian Scoones’ 2001 book Dynamics and Diversity emphasizes throughout the
importance of taking local context seriously. Some of the key findings include
understanding how farmers classify their own soils, and also seek to improve them
over time. Africa’s farming systems are highly diverse, and this diversity is a key
feature at all scales. It is important for farmers as it reduces the risk of crop failure.
Farming systems are dynamic, and there is no single pathway being followed by
farmers at one site. Farmers’ management of soil nutrients depends on a range of
socioeconomic factors, and data on nutrient balances shows how there is a mixed
pattern of accumulation and depletion, depending on plots, farmers and locations.
Finally, farmers have all been affected by recent policy changes. This is the specific
context for this chapter by Ian Scoones and Camilla Toulmin. This diversity of
agroecological settings demands a differentiated approach for intervention strate-
gies and policy options. The technological choices are important, as they are highly
contested in many circles. With respect to Ethiopia, Mali and Zimbabwe, a range
of policies are discussed, including devolution and structural adjustment, credit,