The power dynamics in co-management of forestry resources: the case of the mafungautsi forest reserve in Gokwe (Zimbabwe)

Although governance innovations that involve moving powers closer to the citizens are receiving increasing policy support, their implementation is not without problems. This study uses review and case study approach to critically examine the contradictions and ambiguities of "peasant empowerment" in a co- management venture between Zimbabwean foresters and peasant communities. The institutional infrastructure for co- management was derived from and superimposed upon a complex web of local power bases, further fragmenting existing networks of interest, affection and association, and thus limiting the scope for co- management. The legislative environment, at least during the pre -2000 period, supported the expropriation and control of the land and resources of peasant communities, thus contradicting the underlying principle of co- management, which is that of co -equal partnership. Powers over natural resources have remained centralized in the national state; the little power that has been decentralised has been transferred to levels that are not close enough to the citizens. Furthermore, there is no legislation that gives a legal mandate and fiscal autonomy to units closer to the citizens than the district level. The co- management venture is "supply -led" rather than "demand driven ", implemented on the terms and conditions of their allies in the state bureaucracies responsible for natural resource management. However, in spite of their marginalisation, peasant communities continue to have a wide repertoire of tools, which enable them to significantly penetrate local and broader political processes. The study identifies the need for fundamental changes in the co- management system, including the creation of downwardly accountable institutions and experimentation with new co- management relations. It argues that such changes require related reversals in the ways that researchers, policy -makers, civil society organizations and other facilitators have traditionally conducted their business. The central thesis is that the state and other external actors have sought to mould seemingly local institutions and have tried to discipline these institutions towards the achievement of top -down conservation objectives.

Institutional implications of governance of local common pool resources on livestock water productivity in Ethiopia

This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Improving water productivity depends on how local communal water and grazing resources are governed. This involves institutional and organizational issues. In the mixed farming systems of the Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia, non-participatory water users’ associations, neglect of traditional water rights, corruption, village power relations, inequitable allocation of irrigated land and free-grazing practice impact the governance of local common pool resources (CPR). Indigenous governance structures for CPR such as the kire are participatory and effective in terms of rule enforcement. Externally initiated governance structures lack acceptance by farmers and sufficient support from local government. In order to improve water productivity in the mixed farming systems, institutional deficiencies need attention and existing indigenous governance structures require recognition and support.Peer Reviewe

Transboundary water governance institutional architecture: reflections from Ethiopia and Sudan

Transboundary water resource governance is premised on equitable water and water-related benefit sharing. Using the case of the Blue Nile (Ethiopia and Sudan), we explore the conceptual issues that need consideration in the crafting of cross-border cooperation within the water sector. First, drawing on global experiences with transboundary water management, we evaluate how upstream and downstream concerns are addressed by transboundary water management institutions. Second, we explore the kinds of institutional design and the issues which need to be considered to result in ‘win-win’ scenarios for both upstream and downstream users, as well as the mechanisms of benefit sharing negotiated amongst different stakeholders. Third, we examine ways of addressing equity and livelihoods in transboundary institutional arrangements. Finally, we attempt to assess how transboundary institutions can address broader historical, political and economic issues and their implications for sustainable transboundary water governance. This paper raises key issues that need to be addressed in establishing transboundary governance institutions.Length: pp.246-253Water governanceInstitutionsInternational watersInternational cooperationRiver basin management

Incorporating Transformative Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Climate Information Services for Agriculture and Food Security

Climate information services (CIS) involve the production, translation, transfer, and use of climate knowledge and information in decision-making and policy and planning. CIS in agriculture can be a critical means to build resilience and maintain food security and livelihoods for those most at risk in the face of climate change and variability, such as smallholder farmers. However, unless women and other marginalized groups were deliberately involved during the planning and development of agricultural innovations and services, it is still possible for them to be excluded from these innovations and services meant to help them cope with climate risks and uncertainties

Gender Dynamics in Water Governance Institutions: The Case of Gwanda’s Guyu-Chelesa Irrigation Scheme in Zimbabwe

The need to incorporate women in development interventions has widely been highlighted in development literature. Despite recent attempts to include women in such efforts, the FAO’s 2011 State of the Agriculture Report points out that gender imbalance is still a major concern. This study focuses on the Guyu-Chelesa irrigation scheme in Zimbabwe in an attempt to understand women’s involvement in water governance institutions that are set up around these schemes. At one level, women are well-represented in these institutions. Nonetheless, despite their representation in positions of high-level decision making, their actual decision-making power is limited. For this reason, this paper argues that women, in water resource infrastructure management and rehabilitation, may be represented in form only, with highly circumscribed powers. This study makes recommendations on how to understand and take into account the differential gender power dynamics which are at play in such irrigation schemes. In particular, the study recommends that access to irrigation be linked to control of calls for a valuation of women’s contribution and the need to engage in broader societal changes as far as gender relations — well beyond the irrigation schemes — are concerned. Such a dialogue would also entail engagement of both men and women

Joint ventures in the Flag Boshielo Irrigation Scheme, South Africa: a history of smallholders, states and business

For over a century, debates about the relation between farm size, mode of farming and land productivity have shaped agrarian policies, programs and research across the world. Until the 2000s, the pendulum tended to swing towards small-scale family farming. An inverse relationship between farm size and land productivity was widely found in Asia (Berry and Cline 1979). Millions of smallholder families cultivating 1 hectare (ha) or less intensified production for food and income. Their productivity depended on access to production factors, in particular fertilizers and irrigation, and access to rewarding output markets. Family members had more incentives to produce than wage laborers on larger farms. Larger farms were only more productive per unit of land when certain mechanization, such as tractors, started enabling economies of scale. Accordingly, agricultural policies in countries such as China and India primarily supported smallholders. In China, where land distribution became fairly egalitarian, this smallholder policy led to massive poverty alleviation and broad-based economic growth

Joint ventures in the flag Boshielo irrigation scheme, South Africa: A history of smallholders, states and business

In the global debates on the modes of farming, including irrigated farming, that are viable for the majority of rural people, three models prevail: (i) smallholder family farming; (ii) farming led by agribusiness’ capital, technologies, and forward and backward linkages in an estate mode; and (iii) agribusiness-led farming in an out-grower mode. In South Africa, these three and more modes of irrigated agriculture have been implemented. In the colonial era, in most of the country, the state supported a white-dominated estate mode of farming based on wage labor. Smallholder family farming remained confined to black people in the former homelands. Smallholder irrigation schemes in the former homelands were out-grower schemes, managed by the colluding apartheid state, white agribusiness and irrigation industry. Since independence in 1994, the search for viable modes of farming and irrigation is high on the policy agenda. This is part of the envisaged transition of the state into a tripartite constellation of citizens, state and service providers that delivers accountable, outcome-based services

A framework for gender equality and social inclusion in agribusiness transformation in East and Southern Africa

A Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) approach is fundamental to agribusiness transformation in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. Work package 5 aims to bring about inclusive and scalable agribusiness innovations through targeted GESI support to UU ESA work packages 1-6. To achieve this, we produced this GESI framework on social, economic, political, and institutional barriers and opportunities to more inclusive agribusiness in the ESA region. This framework will ensure that planned interventions under UU are designed and implemented to empower more women and youth as farmers, agribusiness owners, and actors with voice and visibility across agribusiness value chains. The GESI framework was produced by reviewing relevant literature and talking to agribusiness stakeholders, especially women and youth, in four initial countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe