The Race for Leasing Rights: Pasture Access and Institutional Change During Post-socialist Reforms in Azerbaijan

"Within the context of transition and pasture reform in Central Asian and Caucasian countries our study focuses on the pasture reform in Azerbaijan. The pasture reform in Azerbaijan has received little attention in scientific literature although it displays a rapid emergence of individualised rights for pasture plots, which is an exceptional development in this region. Using empirical case study evidence we analyse the implementation and outcomes of the reform process for pastoral land in the context of the macroeconomic development in Azerbaijan and in comparison to pasture reforms in other post-socialist transition countries. We apply the evolutionary theory of property rights to explain and analyse the exceptionally rapid emergence of individual property rights for pasture in Azerbaijan." (author's abstract

Diversification of Livestock-Keeping Smallholders in Mountainous Rural Regions of Azerbaijan and Georgia

Diversified livelihoods combining farming, livestock keeping and non-farm income are characteristic of many rural households worldwide. For the Central Asian and Caucasian region, livestock keeping is especially important in terms of land use and socio-cultural heritage. We contribute to the literature with data from the under-researched Caucasus region and investigate: (i) the extent of diversification in smallholder households; (ii) the role of livestock keeping in diversification; (iii) the influence of household-specific and location-specific variables and diversification on household income. Based on a dataset of 303 households, we calculate contribution margins for the main agricultural activities, household income, and diversification indices and analyze the influence of diversification, asset and location variables on household income with a regression model. Household income is generally diversified and a combination of four income sources (crops, livestock, poultry/bees and social benefits) was the most frequent. The econometric analysis shows that higher household incomes are positively correlated with higher household land and livestock assets, the presence of non-farm work and social benefit income sources and with an increasing specialization as measured by the diversification index. For enhancing rural household incomes and slowing down rural-urban migration, the development of non-farm job opportunities is recommended

Validity and validation in archetype analysis: practical assessment framework and guidelines

Archetype analysis is a promising approach in sustainability science to identify patterns and explain mechanisms shaping the sustainability of social-ecological systems. Although considerable efforts have been devoted to developing quality standards and methodological advances for archetype analysis, archetype validation remains a major challenge. Drawing on the insights from two international workshops on archetype analysis and on broader literature on validity, we propose a framework that identifies and describes six dimensions of validity: conceptual; construct; internal; external; empirical; and application validity. We first discuss the six dimensions in relation to different methodological approaches and purposes of archetype analysis. We then present an operational use of the framework for researchers to assess the validity of archetype analysis and to support sound archetype identification and policy-relevant applications. Finally, we apply our assessment to 18 published archetype analyses, which we use to describe the challenges and insights in validating the different dimensions and suggest ways to holistically improve the validity of identified archetypes. With this, we contribute to more rigorous archetype analyses, helping to develop the potential of the approach for guiding sustainability solutions.Peer Reviewe

Pasture use of mobile pastoralists in Azerbaijan under institutional economic, farm economic and ecological aspects

Against the background of post-socialist transition and nationwide economic growth in Azerbaijan this dissertation analyses the utilisation of rangeland resources by mobile pastoralists in Azerbaijan. The study was motivated by the initially scarce knowledge about pastoralism in Azerbaijan and concerns about declining pasture condition due to growing livestock numbers. The study was guided by three research objectives, which were addressed cumulatively in five publications. The first objective aims at analysing the development of pastoralism in the transition period in comparison to developments in the pastoral sectors of other post-socialist countries. Secondly, the study addresses socio-economic causes of inappropriate pasture management by pastoralists. Finally, in an application-oriented research process recommendations for improving the management of pastoral farms and pasture governance were developed in order to mitigate inappropriate pasture management. For addressing these objectives the study frames the management of rangelands as a complex natural resource management system, in which the environment, users, governance structures, and the socio-political context are closely linked. Within this framework, the study focused especially on pastoral farms using a farm economics approach and on pasture governance with employing institutional economic theories. Regarding the methodology, a case study approach in four study regions was chosen in order to deal with the ex-ante limited information about Azerbaijani pastoralism and the explanatory aim of research.Diese Dissertation analysiert die Nutzung von Weideressourcen durch mobile Tierhalter vor dem Hintergrund post-sozialistischer Transformationsprozesse und nationalem Wirtschaftswachstum in Aserbaidschan. Die Arbeit wurde durch fehlende Informationen über mobile Tierhaltung in Aserbaidschan und die Sorge um eine abnehmende Weidequalität auf Grund steigender Tierzahlen motiviert. Die Dissertation wird von drei Forschungszielen geleitet, die zusammenfassend in fünf Publikationen bearbeitet wurden. Das erste Forschungsziel fokussiert auf die Entwicklung der Tierhaltung während der Transformation in Aserbaidschan im Vergleich zu zeitgleichen Prozessen in den Tierhaltungssektoren anderer post-sozialistischer Länder. Zweitens analysiert die Studie sozio-ökonomische Gründe für unangepasstes Weidemanagement durch die Tierhalter. Letztlich werden in einem anwendungsorientierten Forschungsprozess Empfehlungen für ein verbessertes Management von Tierhaltungsbetrieben und für Veränderungen ihres institutionellen Rahmens entwickelt, um unangepasstes Weidemanagement zu korrigieren. Um diese Forschungsfragen zu beantworten, wird Weidemanagement als komplexes System des Managements natürlicher Ressourcen konzeptualisiert, in dem Umwelt, Nutzer, Regelungsstrukturen und das sozio-politische Umfeld eng verknüpft sind. In diesem konzeptionellen Rahmen fokussiert die Studie mit der Anwendung eines landwirtschaftlich-betriebswirtschaftlichen Ansatzes besonders auf die Tierhaltungsbetriebe sowie mithilfe institutionenökonomischer Theorien auf die Regelungsstrukturen für Weidezugang. Als methodischer Ansatz wurde eine Fallstudie gewählt

Taking stock of and advancing knowledge on interaction archetypes at the nexus between land, biodiversity, food and climate

AbstractGlobal challenges related to land, biodiversity, food and climate interact in diverse ways depending on local conditions and the broader context in which they are embedded. This diversity challenges learning and integrated decision-making to sustainably transform the nexus, that is to say the interactions between these land-based challenges. Providing aggregated insights, archetype analysis has revealed recurrent patterns within the multitude of interactions, i.e. interaction archetypes that are essential to enhance the understanding of nexus relations. This paper synthesises the state of knowledge on interaction or nexus archetypes related to land, biodiversity, food and climate based on a systematic literature review. It focusses on the coverage of thematic aspects, regional distribution, social dimensions and methodologies. The results show that consideration of comprehensive land–biodiversity–food–climate interactions is rare. Furthermore, there are pronounced regional knowledge gaps, social dimensions are inadequately captured, and methodological shortcomings are evident. To enhance the investigation of interaction archetypes, we have framed a future research agenda providing directions to fully capture interactions across space and time, better use the potential of scenario archetypes and up-scale transformative actions. These advances will constructively contribute insights that help to achieve the ambitious objective to sustainably transform the nexus between land, biodiversity, food and climate

The Race for Leasing Rights: Pasture Access and Institutional Change During Post-socialist Reforms in Azerbaijan

Within the context of transition and pasture reform in Central Asian and Caucasian countries our study focuses on the pasture reform in Azerbaijan. The pasture reform in Azerbaijan has received little attention in scientific literature although it displays a rapid emergence of individualised rights for pasture plots, which is an exceptional development in this region. Using empirical case study evidence we analyse the implementation and outcomes of the reform process for pastoral land in the context of the macroeconomic development in Azerbaijan and in comparison to pasture reforms in other post-socialist transition countries. We apply the evolutionary theory of property rights to explain and analyse the exceptionally rapid emergence of individual property rights for pasture in Azerbaijan

New rules are not rules: Privatization of pastoral commons and local attempts at curtailment in southwest Madagascar

This paper examines the case of indigenous privatization of the important fodder tree samata (Euphorbia stenoclada) and concurrent legal curtailment of this privatization among the Tanalana people of southwest Madagascar from a long-term perspective. Applying a framework for institutional change to empirical data derived from interviews conducted in 20 villages in the Mahafaly Plateau region, the study explores the process and mechanisms involved in creating and asserting private property rights to this common pool resource on the one hand, and the process of curtailment on the other. Implementation of the curtailing institutions is hampered by (1) the low bargaining power of village communities versus privatizers, which stems from the users’ preference for avoiding open conflicts and laissez faire ideology, (2) the low social acceptance and internalization of new curtailment rules, which are perceived as contradictory to customary resource privatization rights and the ideology of personal freedom restricted only by ancestral rules-in-use, and (3) ineffective self-governance and enforcement mechanisms based on pro-active monitoring of local users. Stressing the interplay between ideology and bargaining power in the context-specific constellation of actors, this paper contributes to the understanding of the transformation of property rights and institutional change in self-organized, traditional societies

Implementation of pasture leasing rights for mobile pastoralists – a case study on institutional change during post-socialist reforms in Azerbaijan

Our study focuses on pasture reform in Azerbaijan within the context of transition and pasture reform in Central Asian and Caucasian countries. Despite the rapid emergence of individualised rights for pasture plots, which is an exceptional development in this region, pasture reform in Azerbaijan has received little attention in the scientific literature. Using evidence from an empirical case study we analyse the implementation and outcomes of the reform process for pastoral land in the context of the macroeconomic development in Azerbaijan and in comparison to pasture reforms in other post-socialist transition countries. We apply the evolutionary theory of property rights to explain and analyse the exceptionally rapid emergence of individual property rights to pasture in Azerbaijan