by Uplands Research Program

1. Depending on biophysical conditions, knowledge networks and institutional arrangements, a given site may develop along trajectories of (1) resource availability, (2) market access and (3) multi-stakeholder and institutional environments. This leads to site-specific constraints and options for innovations to be brought into the system. Integrating heterogeneity into research and innovation development is fundamental to the acceptance of innovations by stakeholders as well as to innovation dissemination and scaling out to other regions. The individual subprojects of the Uplands Research Program cooperate to integrate their knowledge of the various components of agro-ecosystems in mountainous areas. A key concept of the uplands research is the integration of the various knowledge domains to understand the system under study. This integration allows to build scenarios of the processes and effects that innovations bring into the system. Multi-agent system modeling and ecological watershed modeling allow to link biophysical changes with processes of socio-economic and institutional change. Based on stakeholder participation , these scenarios enable decision support for ecologically, economically and institutionally sustainable innovations. Figure 2. Knowledge integration and stakeholder participation Figure 3. The Uplands Research Concept Population growth, resettlement and opium substitution policies have led to increased scarcity of land, water and financial resources in the ecologically fragile and economically disadvantaged upland regions of Southeast Asia. This resulted in overexploitation of natural resources, land degradation, poverty and food insecurity during the last four decades. To address these issues the Uplands Research Program (SFB 564) was established in 2000. It carries out interdisciplinary research in the upland regions of Northern Thailand and Northern Vietnam to create the scientific basis for: (1) establishing sustainable land use, viable agricultural production systems and rural processing chains , (2) identifying and improving methods for research in complex mountainous environments with a focus on interactions between ecological heterogeneity, ethnic diversity and varying socio-economic / institutional frameworks, (3) developing concepts and policy measures for rural institutions addressing rural poverty and food insecurity. Figure 1. Research areas in Vietnam and Thailand (left) – Muong Lum Catchment, Vietnam (right) Innovation development for mountainous agriculture in Southeast Asia The Uplands Research Program Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Mountainous Regions of Southeast Asia Contact: heidhues@uni-hohenheim.de Website: www.uni-hohenheim.de/sfb564 Prof. Dr. Franz Heidhues Objectives of the Uplands Research Knowledge Integration Scaling-out and Innovation Dissemination Stakeholder Networks Biophysical Knowledge - Water Biophysical Knowledge - Soil Economic, Institutional and Stakeholder Knowledge Agricultural & Technical Knowledge Integrated Modeling K nowledge & I nnovation P artnerships