Integrated Natural Resource Management in the Highlands of Eastern Africa
Integrated Natural Resource Management in the Highlands of Eastern Africa

Author: Laura Anne German

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-06-17

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 1136493697

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This book documents a decade of research, methodological innovation, and lessons learned in an eco-regional research-for-development program operating in the eastern African highlands, the African Highlands Initiative (AHI). It does this through reflections of the protagonists themselves—AHI site teams and partners applying action research to development innovation as a means to enhance the impact of their research. The book summarizes the experiences of farmers, research and development workers and policy and decision-makers who have interacted within an innovation system with the common goal of implementing an integrated approach to natural resource management (NRM) in the humid highlands. This book demonstrates the crucial importance of "approach" in shaping the outcomes of research and development, and distils lessons learned on what works, where and why. It is enriched with examples and case studies from five benchmark sites in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, whose variability provides the reader with an in-depth knowledge of the complexities of integrated NRM in agro-ecosystems that play an important role in the rural economy of the region. It is shown that the struggle to achieve sustainable agricultural development in challenging environments is a complex one, and can only be effectively achieved through combined efforts and commitment of individuals and institutions with complementary roles.

Collective Action and Property Rights for Poverty Reduction
Collective Action and Property Rights for Poverty Reduction

Author: Esther Mwangi

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2012-05-22

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 0812207874

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To improve their well-being, the poor in developing countries have used both collective action through formal and informal groups and property rights to natural resources. Collective Action and Property Rights for Poverty Reduction: Insights from Africa and Asia examines how these two types of institutions, separately and together, influence quality of life and how they can be strengthened to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor. The product of a global research study by the Systemwide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, this book draws on case studies from East Africa and South and Southeast Asia to investigate how collective action and property rights have contributed to poverty reduction. The book extends the analysis of these institutions beyond their frequently studied role in natural resource management by also examining how they can reduce vulnerability to different types of shocks. Essays in the volume identify opportunities and risks present in the institutions of collective action and property rights. For example, property rights to natural resources can offer a variety of advantages, providing individuals and groups not only with benefits and incomes but also with assets that can counter the negative effects of shocks such as drought, and can make collective action easier. The authors also demonstrate that collective action has the potential to reduce poverty if it includes more vulnerable groups such as women, ethnic minorities, and the very poor. Preventing exclusion of these often-marginalized groups and guaranteeing genuinely inclusive collective action might require special rules and policies. Another danger to the poor is the capture of property rights by elites, which can be the result of privatization and decentralization policies; case studies and analysis identify actions to prevent such elite capture.

An innovation systems approach to enhanced farmer adoption of climate-ready germplasm and agronomic practices
An innovation systems approach to enhanced farmer adoption of climate-ready germplasm and agronomic practices

Author: Hellin, Jonathan

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2014-06-27

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13:

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By 2050, climate change is likely to reduce maize production globally by 3–10 percent and wheat production in developing countries by 29–34 percent. Even without climate change, the real costs of wheat and maize will increase by 60 percent between 2000 and 2050; climate change could make the figure substantially greater. Food security, despite the above, may be possible if agricultural systems are transformed through improved seed, fertilizer, land use, and governance.

Local sources of resilience
Local sources of resilience

Author: Bernier, Quinn

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2014-05-04

Total Pages: 4

ISBN-13:

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People have always faced shocks and have devised a variety of institutional responses to cope with, recover from, and prevent future impacts. Central to these shocks and this coping capacity, but often underexplored, is the role of social capital. Social capital includes “features of social organization, such as networks, norms, and social trust, that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit” and can serve as an asset for communities, enabling them to engage in and benefit from collective action and cooperation. While social capital takes many forms, of particular interest here are local-level organizations and less formal social networks. Having long played a role in individual, household, and community risk-smoothing and risk-sharing practices, social capital has also been identified as a vital component of adaptive capacity as well as a key factor contributing to post-disaster recovery. Practitioners often assume that the poor, who lack other assets, can develop, acquire, and utilize social capital instead; however, as many studies have illustrated, the poor face significant challenges in building and using this resource. Moreover, social capital by itself may not be sufficient to encourage proactive adaptive behaviors and changes; external interventions may be needed to strengthen indigenous associations and support for resilience. However, clearly understanding local-level social capital is necessary for such interventions to effectively engage with, and not erode, effective local responses. This brief explores how local forms of social capital can contribute to resilience and how policy interventions can build up, support, and deepen these connections.

Beyond the Biophysical
Beyond the Biophysical

Author: Laura German

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-06-10

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 9048188261

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Beyond the Biophysical provides a broad overview of agriculture and natural resource management (NRM) scholarship and practice that lies beyond the biophysical, emphasizing instead epistemological, cultural, and political foundations of NRM. The volume is oriented toward professionals with expertise in agriculture and natural resource management scholarship and practice, but who lack exposure to the conceptual and methodological underpinnings of critical theory, the anthropology of development, ecological anthropology, and other relevant scholarship. It therefore follows common standards of academic rigour, but minimizes the use of jargon, integrates detailed case studies with conceptual syntheses, and attempts to move from critique to concrete recommendations for scholarship and practice. The volume seeks to foster a more nuanced and responsible engagement with local communities and the natural world among NRM scholars and practitioners.

Resilience and social capital
Resilience and social capital

Author: Bernier, Quinn

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2014-04-30

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13:

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Increasingly, resilience is being incorporated into planning and social protection policy. People have been facing shocks, both natural and anthropogenic, forever, devising and innovating a variety of institutional responses to cope with, recover from, and prevent future impacts. Central to these shocks and this coping capacity, but often underexplored, is the role of social capital. This paper, using the case studies of iddirs (funeral societies) in Ethiopia and migrant networks in the Philippines, explores the contribution of local forms of social capital to building and strengthening the resilience of individuals and communities, focusing on their contributions to coping, adaptive, and transformative capacities. This paper argues that understanding clearly the role that existing social capital can play in building resilience is a necessary first step for policymakers. The authors suggest policy interventions to fill gaps where and when necessary while supporting and deepening existing social capital.

Resilience for food and nutrition security
Resilience for food and nutrition security

Author: Fan, Shenggen

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2014-10-28

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 0896296784

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Economic shocks including food price shocks, environmental shocks, social shocks, political shocks, health shocks, and many other types of shocks hit poor people and communities around the world, compromising their efforts to improve their well-being. As shocks evolve and become more frequent or intense, they further threaten people’s food and nutrition security and their livelihoods. How do we help people and communities to become more resilient, to not only bounce back from shocks but to also to get ahead of them and improve their well-being so that they are less vulnerable to the next shock? How do we get better at coping with—and even thriving—in the presence of shocks?

The gendered impacts of agricultural asset transfer projects
The gendered impacts of agricultural asset transfer projects

Author: Johnson, Nancy

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2013-12-02

Total Pages: 39

ISBN-13:

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This paper looks at the gendered impacts of a development project that provided improved dairy cattle and training as part of a broader effort to develop a smallholder-friendly, market-oriented dairy value chain in Manica province, Mozambique. The project targeted households, registered cows in the name of the household head, and, initially, trained registered cow owners in various aspects of dairy production and marketing. Subsequently training was expanded to two members per household to increase the capacity within households to care for cows, a change which resulted in a significant number of women being trained. Using qualitative and quantitative data on dairy production and consumption and on gendered control over income and assets, the paper explores how men and women participated in and benefited from the project. We find that despite being registered to men, in practice dairy cattle are in some cases viewed as jointly owned by men and women. Beneficiary households dramatically increased dairy production and income, with men, women, and children all contributing labor. Women’s incentives for participation in dairy are less clear. Despite their recognized rights and responsibilities related to dairy cow management, women exercise relatively little control over milk and milk income as compared to men. Various explanations related to monetary and nonmonetary benefits of MSDDP and dairying for women are explored, along with their implications for women’s level of effort and overall project outcomes.