Socioecology of Stress: Why Do Common Property Resource Management Projects Fail? A Case Study of Sheep and Pasture Development Project in Rajasthan, India

Abstract

"The key elements of the socio-ecological perspective is that the ecology defines the mix of economic enterprises that different classes of farmers find historically sustainable in that context. The scale at which different classes operate different enterprises is influenced by the respective access to credit, product and labour markets. Thus, if we find bigger farmers owning predominantly high value grazers and poor owning browsers, the implications for respective access and resource use options can be easily drawn. The mean and variance matrix of this mix generated different perceptions and responses to risks. It appeared thus that different classes of farmers used different discounts rates and different time periods to appraise the returns in various resource markets depending upon the accumulated knowledge, skills, resource advantage, and future expectations; besides surplus, subsistence or deficit budget conditions."