How to overcome the governance challenges of implementing NREGA

Large-scale social safety net programs such as India�s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) are difficult to implement due to governance challenges related to elite capture, leakages, and corruption. The ability to identify how the governance challenges of program implementation can be met requires detailed insights into the actual process of program implementation, with clear views on the source of leakage and mismanagement, the sensitivity of program implementation to the influence of different actors, local power structures and informal bureaucratic processes. This paper uses a new participatory research method, referred to as Process-Influence Mapping, to shed light on these issues and related governance challenges, using the implementation of NREGA as an example. The Process-Influence Mapping tool helps identify the specific features of the NREGA implementation process that limit the program�s effectiveness (for example, elite capture in the definition of work and capacity limitations due to staff shortages and lack of training) and create scope for the misappropriation of funds. The insights gained can be used to identify policy options for reforming the administrative process of NREGA implementation so as to create an effective social safety net.Governance, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, participatory research method, Process-Influence-Map,

Asia Regional Workshop on Compensation for Ecosystem Services : a component of the global scoping study on compensation of ecosystem service

The World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya, together with Forest Trends, Washington DC, The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland, Corporación Grupo Randi Randi, Quito, Ecuador, the African Centre for Technology Studies, Nairobi, Kenya, the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Bangalore, India, and the United Nations Environment Programme – Division for Environmental Law and Conventions, Nairobi, Kenya, is leading a scoping study for the International Development Research Centre (IDRC-Canada) on the model of payments for environmental services (PES) as applied in developing countries, to determine how the poor are affected by these schemes and whether the schemes are compatible with poverty reduction objectives. // As a key part of the study, a 3-day workshop is being held in each focal region. The Asia Regional Workshop was held in Bangalore, India from 8 -10 May 2006 at the Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources (CEENR) of the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC). The event brought together 39 participants from across the region, including India, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, as well as the project coordination team from the Nairobi headquarters of The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). Delegates represented international and national-level organizations, academic bodies, NGOs, consulting firms and donor agencies. // This report covers the proceedings of the workshop. It includes summaries of all presentations made (22) as well as summaries of the panel discussions and the open discussions held after the presentations