Harnessing Agroecological Practices for Sustainable Land Restoration in Degraded Agricultural Landscapes

ABSTRACT Land degradation in smallholder‐dominated agricultural landscapes of the Peruvian Amazon poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods and ecological stability. However, one‐size‐fits‐all restoration strategies often fail to account for the heterogeneity of farming systems and socio‐economic conditions. This study investigates how agroecological practices can most effectively contribute to sustainable land restoration by characterizing the nature of land degradation, assessing current adoption levels, and identifying key socio‐economic drivers and farmer‐specific management patterns. Using a comprehensive baseline dataset comprising 1070 farming households in the San Martín region of Peru, the research applies a mixed‐methods analytical framework. Descriptive statistical analyses are combined with unsupervized machine learning techniques, including principal component analysis (PCA) and K‐means clustering, to derive data‐driven farmer typologies. In addition, a decision tree model is employed to quantitatively identify the most influential determinants of adoption for complex agroecological practices, particularly agroforestry systems. The results indicate that farmers perceive biological constraints such as pest pressure and declining soil fertility as more critical than physical land degradation processes like erosion. Access to external support and agricultural advisory services emerges as the single most influential predictor of agroforestry adoption. Furthermore, three distinct farmer profiles are identified: (i) the diversified agro‐silvopastoralist, (ii) the small‐scale farmer, and (iii) the large‐scale landholder, each exhibiting unique production strategies and land management practices. These findings underscore the limitations of generic restoration approaches and highlight the need for targeted, profile‐specific interventions. Strengthening tailored rural advisory services is identified as a key policy leverage point to accelerate the adoption of sustainable land management practices and promote long‐term land restoration in the Peruvian Amazon.