Topic 1.4 Socio-economic and Institutional context of watershed management Kassa Tadele (Dr.Ing) Arba Minch University
Contents 1) Policy and legislations directions, land tenure 2) Social aspects (Population) in WM 3) socio-ecosystem resilience 4) Economic system and efficiency 5) Socioeconomic well-being 6) Institutional arrangements (Local to national levels), market forces 7) Infrastructure, communication, etc.
Learning outcomes Students are expected to Understand policy and laws that have impacts on watershed management in a broader context Determine appropriate institutional and organizational aspects of watershed management Understand the roles of institutions, relationships and interactions of social and economic aspects of watershed management. Recognizing appropriate strategies during decision making process, planning and management of watershed
1. Policy and legislations directions 1.1) Definitions of Policy A projected programme of goals, values and their consistent practice over a considerably long period of time which benefit from periodic review. Policy is a comprehensive formulation of : Principles Objectives Targets Aims
Cont d Broad guiding statements that define the mandate and objectives of sectoral agencies. Aim at providing comprehensive integrated and coordinated frameworks for the management of both human and physical resources towards a sector s objectives; and usually develop with reasonable order and predictability Policies at both the national and sub-national level provide a framework for government decision making.
A policy should be (cont d) Comprehensiveness Time Flexibility Ownership Cost Implementability Participation
1.2) What a Policy is not (cont d) Policy is not legislation but a guide to legislation. Policy is not an abstract wish but a response to needs/demands of socio-political and economic context out of which it evolves. Policy is not static but dynamic. Policy is not timeless wish but an expression of what should be done in response to felt needs and in relation to time.
The Big Picture (cont d)
Policy (cont d) Watershed management works best when there is a supportive policy and legal framework, particularly (a) policies that facilitate decentralized and participatory development; (b) institutional arrangements that allow and encourage public agencies at all levels to work together; and (c) an approach to access to natural resources that reflects local legislation and tenure practices and problems.
1.3) Land tenure The nationalization of land in 1975 led to the extinguishing of previously existing (customary) rights to land in the highlands, but not in the lowlands. Elements of customary tenure are still in use for allocating and managing grazing and forest lands. In the State of SNNPR, for example, the so-called coffee forests are managed according to customary tenure systems. The land registration process has led to the loss of user rights and may even have stimulated the conversion of coffee forest in farm land. In other cases, such coffee forests have been allocated to investors, ignoring customary rights (FAO 2009).
User right leases Farmers have user rights. Conditions for keeping these rights are being present in the kebele, using the land and proper land use); Violation of these conditions can lead ultimately to losing user rights. Most land certified (in local level land register) There are three types of lease arrangements: o lease to other farmers, o lease by farmers to investors o lease by the state to investors.
2) Social aspects in WM 2.1) Watershed management organization Social Component It is centered around the decision-making aspects Organizational Set-up Assessment Planning Implementation Evaluation
2.2) Organizational set-up Goal of local watershed management organizations is to protect, preserve, restore natural resources through 1) Assessment What is happening in the watershed? 2) Planning- What needs to be done? Goals Statements that describe the desired future watershed condition toward which programs, activities, and decisions are directed. Policies The strategic steps, or intermediate ends, required to reach the watershed s goals. Strategies The specific actions by which the community will achieve its goals
Organizational set-up(cont d) 3) Implementation How do you get there Strategies or the tasks that need to be done in order of priority. Time Frame for tasks to be completed. Capital Improvement Plan which provides estimates of the funding needs for each task. 4) Evaluation Did you make it?
Social aspects in WM(cont d) Generally, social mobilization, community organization, building capacities of communities in planning and implementation, ensuring equity arrangements etc need intensive facilitation. Social rationality in watershed management deals with taking into account the social or people setting. The watersheds may include lands belonging to different social groups and also the activities and outcomes of watershed development may affect various social groups differently.
Social aspects in WM (cont d) Achieving the acceptance and cooperation of different social groups usually becomes necessary for effective implementation of watershed projects. In the absence of addressing social rationality, transaction costs may escalate, difficulties arise and performance may suffer.
Cont d Participatory approaches and community management plans have been widely used watershed Participation is not a straightforward concept. A number of conditions are necessary for people to actually participate in WM programs. 1. The watershed program must include demanddriven activities. 2. people must be aware of the advantages of collective action in conserving and managing natural resources, and they must be empowered to plan, implement, and manage the programs. 3. Finally, people should expect private economic benefits
Social aspects in WM (cont d) Generally, human resource development is an important component of watershed dev t Formation of people s institutions and working through these institutions at all levels, (kebele to National) involvement of women through all possible means, introduction of income generating activities are some of the activities undertaken to develop human resources.
Social aspects in WM (cont d) Capacity building the sum of the efforts needed to develop, enhance and utilize the skills of people and institutions to follow a path of sustainable development. (UNDP 2001) is a crucial component to achieve the desired results from watershed development projects. 19
Social aspects in WM (cont d) Key Elements of Capacity Building Strategy Dedicated and decentralised institutional support and delivery mechanism Annual Action Plan for Capacity Building Pool of resource persons Well prepared training modules and reading materials Mechanism for effective monitoring and followup. Resource Organizations and Developing Partnerships
some Critical capacity building components I. strengthening political and financial support II. III. IV. strengthening human resources: education, training and awareness building strengthening information resources: monitoring, data integration and interpretation for informed decision-making; strengthening regulations and compliance; V. strengthening basic infrastructure VI. Strengthening Local enterprices. 21
Interdependent components must become integrated integrated capacity building (ICB) VI. Local enterprise development V. Infrastructure and technology IV. Policy making and regulation III. Information resources II. Education and awareness-raising I. Political and financial support Still something missing. 22
Limited vs. full scale capacity building Capacity building needs are large and resources limited. Where to start within a watershed (what element, level)? Initial Capacity assessment Capacity threshold A political and financial B Human resources C Information resources D Policy E Basic infrastructure F Local enterprises. A B C D E F Existing Capacity Capacity building req d
Gender empowerment Participatory Watershed management is a multidisciplinary, multi institutional approach for NRM and providing food security through diversification of livelihood options and increased productivity. Women are key to address household food security. Women play a major role in Agriculture and livestock development Health and Education of women has an immediate and lasting effect on the well being of the family Since most percentage of the poor are women, they along with other resource poor are central targets for watershed development.
.lessons learnt Evaluation of a no.of watershed programs have indicated the importance of: People s participation in development process Role of institutions for enhanced participation Extent of people s participation which determined the success A combination of participation and sound technical input Need for supporting policy Watersheds as vehicles that reversed environmental degradation and permitted quantum shift in sustainable agricultural productivity In the process women paid the price of development in most cases ( Nutrition, Security, Basic amenities, workload)
Cont d High Project success Public Participation Mainly water conservation Socio-economiwater conservation with Socio-economic, water conservation, participation Public participation planning, design, implementation Low 1970 1980 1990 2000 Watershed development program Social issues are addressed through involvement of women and minority.
Organizations for IWM: Indian Example (cont d) Government state and federal District Rural Development Agency Project Implementing Agency (PIA) Watershed Development Team Village admin council (Gram panchayat) Watershed association/committee Local user groups (for land owners) Local self help groups (land-less)
Defining Roles and Responsibilities (cont d) Issues Farmer Community Government and NGOs Private land & water management Primary Role Secondary role Secondary role (targeted subsidies, etc) Communal lands + collective goods production + management Secondary role (compliance) Primary Role (Collective action) Secondary role (cost-sharing for investments) Policies, rules and regulations Secondary role (compliance) Secondary role (enforce policies) Primary Role (legislator)
3) socio-ecosystem resilience Social-Ecological Systems can be seen as complex adaptive systems consisting of rules. A heterogeneous collection of individual units that interact locally, and evolve based on the outcomes of the interactions Resilience The capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and re-organise while undergoing change so as to retain essentially the same function, structure and feedbacks to have the same identity. A resilient system can withstand shocks and rebuild itself when necessary.
socio-ecosystem resilience (cont d) The Four Basic Tenets of Resilience Theory Social ecological systems Are self-organizing with centripetal dynamics; Have multiple stability domains; Change through four phases of an adaptive cycle; and function at multiple scales with critical cross-scale (panarchy) effects
socio-ecosystem resilience (cont d) Ecosystem State A (desired) Ecosystem State A (desired) Loss of Resilience Increase ed Vulnerability Stabilization Optimization Ecosystem GOODS and SERVICES X Ecosystem State B (undesired) Resilience represents a shift in traditional perspectives from attempting to control changes in systems that are assumed to be stable, to sustaining and enhancing the capacity of social-ecological systems to adapt to uncertainty and surprise. Ecosystem GOODS and SERVICES X Ecosystem State B (undesired) (A) (B) Sources: C. Folke, et al. 2002; Adger et al. 2005
socio-ecosystem resilience (cont d) Building Social-ecological Resilience Rather than rigid command and control approaches to development and natural resources management resilience thinking places greater emphasis on: Flexibility Adaptation Diversity Connectedness Improving social resilience involves: Good governance Social learning Adaptive capacity Social equity 32
4) Economic system and efficiency Economic Components Watershed Economics and Ecosystems Watershed Protection Economics Funding Sources The three Es of policy making Effectiveness: Efficiency: Equity
Economic system and efficiency (cont d) Watershed economics and ecosystems The nations gross domestic product (GDP) is considered the nation s barometer of economic well-being. Ecosystem services are important in our day to day lives. Since these fundamental services were in place long before the introduction of humans and operate at a very large scale, they are easily taken for granted.
Economic system and efficiency (cont d) Ecosystem services do not have a price Water regulation is a function of hydrological flows. Water supply is a function of storage and retention (wetlands, ponds, streams, etc.) in the watershed. Erosion control is a function of soil retention within an ecosystem. Waste treatment is a function of a wetlands ability to remove or breakdown excess nutrients.
Economic system and efficiency (cont d) Watershed protection economics There is never enough money for watershed protection and watershed managers must make careful choices about how to spend their limited resources. Placing a value on our watersheds and its site specific characteristics such as soil type, land use, land cover, etc. is important for deciding the best future land use patterns in the watershed. Studies are becoming available to help begin to understand and value water resources.
5) Institutional arrangements 5.1) Definitions Institutions are norms, rules and regulations that mediate socio-economic interactions between agents and facilitate exchanges, enforcement of contracts, decision making, coordination, and conflict resolution. Institutions define property rights to productive resources access and control over resources
Cont d Diversity of rights systems in watersheds: Private (farmland, wells, trees) Communal (grazing lands, checkdams, ponds, etc), State (roads, forests, degraded lands), Open access (groundwater)
Low Tenure security High Types of institution Region Rangeland management Watershed management High Spatial IPM Irrigation Forestry Drainage Salinity control Terracing Collectiv ve action Plot HYVs Soil fertility Agroforestry Low Scale Short term Temporal Long term
5.2) institutional principles and gaps principles Management at the lowest appropriate level Participation by all Vulnerable sections and women.. Gaps But.. Reaching the poorest of poor families Gender equality.... remained away from the desired end And UN Statistics..Women do 2/3 of the work in the world earn 1/10 of world income represent 2/3 of the illiterate population of the world own less than 1/1000 of the world s property (Williams et. al. 1997)
Cont d Institutional arrangements for managing watersheds-what one might call the institutional ecosystem-are complex. Two characteristics of these arrangements may be crucial: decision-making among authorities, dynamic of competition and cooperation that characterizes relationships among those authorities.
How to design effective institutions for ICBWM? Well defined and recognized boundaries Rules and regulations adapted to local conditions Collective ability to modify the rules Adequate monitoring systems Enforceable and fair sanctions Mechanisms for conflict resolution Organization for coordination and enforcement of collective rules
Enabling conditions for collective action and people s participation Shared goals and objectives Equity in the distribution of gains and costs Expectation of individual benefits Assurance about the actions and intended strategies of other resource users Social cohesion fewer rather than too many members Leadership/organization for coordination of individual activities
Institutional Reform and Capacity Strengthening for IWM Define sharing rules and regulatory systems for community-based IWM Define restrictions and standards (e.g., for groundwater withdrawal and use of CPRs) Licensing of depletable resources (e.g. groundwater extraction) Land capability systems (e.g., regulate growing of water-intensive crops in drylands) Empower local communities (to enforce compliance to collective rules and regulations)
5.3) Institutional Arrangement National Regional Zonal District Kebele
Cont d Watershed Management Team -Multi-disciplinary team. Soil Science. Others Agriculture. Watershed Management. Team Water Management Social Mobilization. Institutional building
Institutional Arrangement Community Development Process Capacity building - asset mapping/needs identification 1. Local-level decisionmaking Increased participation Community education Leadership development
.at Kebele/project level The project implementing team is selected on the basis of definite criteria. The implementing team will constitute forms Kebele Watershed Development Team (KWDT). Effort should be made to the team to be composed a professional, religious leaders, Women, other institutions 48
Cont d Community Development Process 2.Private/public sector participation Inclusive decisionmaking private public/individual not-for-profit Building trust and understanding through networks & relationships
at District level District Watershed Development Team will be set up. The team will have multi-disciplinary professionals... at National/Regional Level Institutional arrangements at the Ministerial level and their roles are illustrated. Responsibilities for approving projects. Matters related with policies, perspective planning, allocation of budget, monitoring & evaluation strengthened. 50
5.4) Institutional Governance good governance of institutions requires addressing of at least the following important rationalities 1. Technical Rationality: technical efficiency, Requirements include good technology 2. Organizational Rationality: effective coordination. 3. Social & Political Rationality: perceptions of fairness and justice across individuals and groups. 4. Economic & Environmental Rationality
Policy Reforms-Market force Removal of subsidies for water-intensive low value crops (e.g., paddy, wheat, etc.) Marketing and price support for water-saving technologies and drought-tolerant crops (e.g., SAT crops, drip irrigation) Market and price support for income diversification Crop insurance and price stabilization (production-price risk) Encourage water market development
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