Sustainability, Vol. 12, Pages 1596: Understanding How Smallholders Integrated into Pericoupled and Telecoupled Systems (Sustainability)

Increasing connections and influences from near to far have changed social structures, access tonatural resources, and essential livelihoods of smallholders (i.e., those with incomes generated primarilyfrom natural resources on small rural properties). However, the potential benefits and negative impactsfrom these connections to smallholders´ livelihoods and social-ecological effects remain understudied. Inthis paper, we applied the frameworks of pericoupling and telecoupling (human-nature interactionsbetween adjacent and distant systems, respectively) to systematically investigate how the flows linkingsmallholder systems to other systems affect their livelihoods, and causing varying economic, social, andenvironmental effects from case to case. We synthesized 12 cases of smallholder systems around the worldthat are linked to adjacent and distant systems through flows of goods, people, resources, and/orinformation. In each case, we summarized smallholders’ agency, i.e., capability on the formation oroperation of these flows, and the changes on livelihoods on the economic, social, and environment effects.Results suggest that strong smallholder agency is associated more with positive than negative effects.Smallholders with medium to high agency have greater overall well-being within the area of interest.Smallholders integrated in pericoupled systems often have strong agency. Being spillover systems in anintercoupled system (e.g., large-scale agricultural investments) can often cause negative outcomes unlesssmallholders have additional pericoupling flows. Our findings suggest one potential approach to endingpoverty and increasing well-being for smallholders is creating and increasing pericoupling flows toempower smallholders for desired livelihood and social-ecological outcomes.