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Conference Paper Paving the Way Towards Co-Management through Participatory Research: A Case Study with Artisanal Fisheries in Uruguay(2013) Trimble, Micaela; Lázaro, Marila; Berkes, Fikret"In Uruguay, both artisanal fishers and the State agency in charge of fisheries management (DINARA) have shown interest in seeking co-management arrangements, leaving behind the top-down regime, still prevalent today. Our research is based on a case study in Piriápolis (coastal Río de la Plata), in which a participatory research process among fishery stakeholders (fishers, DINARA, University scientists, NGOs) was facilitated to investigate its contributions to the emergence of co-management. Our findings show that participatory research had an impact on the various faces of co-management: (1) power sharing: power was actually shared during the research process, (2) institution building: a multi-stakeholder group (POPA), with a common vision and goals, was created, (3) trust building: trust among participants increased, (4) process: the process of group formation was considered important by participants, (5) learning: stakeholders learned skills for participation, among others, (6) problem solving: two problem-solving exercises were conducted (POPA started with the problem of sea lion impact on the fishery but ended up addressing the competition from imported pangasius), (7) governance: a diversity of stakeholders of the initial problem identified by fishers participated in the process. These impacts on co-management are indeed useful criteria for evaluating the outcomes of participatory research as a knowledge co-production approach in which resource users participate of the entire research, and whose final aim is community empowerment. When evaluating the process of participatory research, our case study contributed to identifying several criteria that can facilitate co-management, such as: participation of all stakeholder groups of the selected problem/topic; participants' representativeness; involvement of all stakeholder groups in every research stage; independent facilitation; collective decision-making through deliberative and consensus-building processes; and appropriate information management. This research provides empirical evidence to support the claim that participatory research is a strategy to facilitate and improve co-management."Conference Paper Encroached Commons: Politics of Seeds(2013) Gupta, Deepak"Seeds of all traditional varieties are owned and maintained by farming households. These are part of the common heritage of farming households. Techniques of seed preservation are developed by these households and they had full control over the seeds. Traditional varieties were low yielding and failed to meet the growing food demand of farming households. Gradually traditional seeds are captured by Multinational Companies (MNCs) and used for producing hybrid and GM seeds having higher yield potentiality. Farmers were attracted by these and they were given governmental support to grow these seeds. As a result, farmers stopped growing traditional varieties and lose their seeds. The basic seed right of a farmer has been victim of politics of Government and MNC nexus to the loss of farmer. Those who still grow traditional varieties, GM seeds pollute them and seriously damage their fertility. Today in India, wheat, cotton, maize are the major victim of MNCs seed politics. Rice is probably next target. Nearly 1500 rice varieties are facing extinction due to the hybrid rice. Rice is the staple food of nearly 60% Indian. The higher input and cultivation cost have pushed the farmers into debt traps. Without subsidy, growing of hybrid varieties is proving to be suicidal for farmers. As per the report, in India one farmer has committed suicide per every eight hours particularly after the harvest of cotton. This paper will deliver into the different issues which related seed politics and seed rights, farmers initiated seed bank based on cases from India. The paper would also discuss the protest movement against GM seeds and growing practices of organic farming with indigenous varieties. The paper will also analyze the interaction among seed, soil, fertilizer and pesticides."Conference Paper Hybrid Variety Creation as a Local Management Tool for Vegetable Landrace as Local Commons(2013) Nishikawa, Yoshiaki; Nemoto, Kazuhiro"Although there have been huge diversity of vegetable landraces grown in Japan due to its agro-ecological diversity, production of local varieties of vegetable has been decreasing in rural Japan. This is mainly due to modernization of agriculture and change of lifestyle. However collaboration between farmers and breeders has been initiated for regeneration of such varieties using hybrid variety, simultaneously aiming at revitalization of rural livelihood. In this study, strategy, processand socio-economic impact of the introduction of hybrid (F1) variety of landrace and its seed production was studied to identify the various functions of hybrid in maintaining landraces. Among the five cases reported for the utilization of F1 seeds for revitalization of local varieties in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Seiniji-Akane turnip (Brassica napus L.)was studied by reviewing the records kept by the producers'group, university, village government and interviewing key persons for the development. After several years of process to create a variety uniform enough to market, an F1 variety was registered as Seinaiji-Akane. This hybrid variety was created using only gene pool existing within the community and the mother lines are carefully maintained by the village and an entrusted company. By harvesting hybrid seeds and distributing them to growers, the production of Seinaiji-akane was maintained responding to the market demands of pickles factories, but traditional Open Pollinated Varieties have also been cultivated continuously. Securing uniformity acceptable to market is one strategy to revitalize the use of landraces as local commons. Therefore, hybrid variety creation can be a strong tool for management of landrace gene pool as local commons. Continuation of the production of OP variety simultaneously showed that farmers' perception of OP variety was further strengthened by introduction of hybrid seeds, which in turn also facilitates landrace conservation."Conference Paper Development of Fire Prevention for Community Commons after 1991 Eastbay Fire(2013) Ochiai, Chiho"On 20th October 1991, some part of Oakland and Berkeley, California experienced a devastating fire causing 25 death and over 3,000 homes were lost. It has been 21 years since the fire and many houses have been reconstructed. The danger and causes of possible future fire have been identified and high emphasis has been placed on to the vegetation management of the area. Many improvements have been made not only by the local governmental to prepare for the situation and to raise the awareness of the resident, but also residents responded by meeting the regulation and standards that have been enforced by the local authorities. There is one plot of land, two and half acres of open field, owned by neighbors group. The community commons that were started in 1978 by putting money with some neighbors to purchase the neighboring unstructured open land to keep the surrounding environment from the residential development. They have been continuing to manage the land since then. The open field which contains trees and grasses that might become fuels for the fire is strictly inspected by the fire department. This paper explains how community commons is protected and managed to prevent from the future possible fire/disaster. The procedures and efforts of both the administration, namely local government and fire department, and the neighborhood organization are explained and analyzed from the community-based disaster management point of view."Conference Paper A Shared Space in the Business Area of Tokyo: Neighborhood Organization (Chounaikai) in Japan(2013) Ouchi, Tazuko"This paper explains about grass roots common space in the modern Tokyo. Even today, many citizens lived in Tokyo still have been organized for Chounaikai. All the same Choukai/Chounaikai/Jichikai isa meaning of neighborhood organization. Chounaikai (rest is omitted afterward) being quite similar to the neighborhood association in America have normally their geographical territory. The territory of Chounaikai as a shared space contributes to enrichment of neighborhood's life. A well known example is Ujiko(Child of Clan)of the shrine that is specified in a kind of parish membership. Ujiko is defined by the place where residents settle in. Ujiko belongs to a parish and is given sanctuary of Ujigami(or Ubusunashin). A smaller level of Ujiko territory often overlaps with Chounaikai boundary. So that residents organize a rituals and command office of shrine's festival in each Chounaikai. Another example is that people patrol always within the territory of Jichikai/ Chounaikai and so on. One case study mentioned here was researched by participant observation. The case's name is Shirakawasanchoume choukai. Shirakawa-san(3)-choumeChoukai is the neighborhood organization to whichI am belongingnow. The neighborhood has old history at least in document from the Greater Kanto Earthquake(1923). I have been living there since 2005. The neighborhood is so much prospering with population growth of 1000 households due to the construction of high-rise condominium in 2005. Anyhow, Choukai/chounaikai is not legally authorized anywhere with Chihou-jichi-hou (LocalAutonomy Act) like as Zaisanku. Nevertheless, Choukai/ Chounai-kai/Jichikai have been having a strong voice on the land use and seem to characterize by something commons. This paper also shows many latest pictures concerning Choukaiin Shirakawa sanchoume. I hope many readers would be able to understand that the grassroots in Tokyo have been growing urban commons in their Chounaikai's territory."Conference Paper Determinants Associated with Commoners in Mitigating the Threat to the Livelihood Through Protecting the Commons(2013) Hewage, Shantha; Okada, Kensuke; Takahashi, Taro"The conversion of environmentally sensitive lands in hilly areas into extensively utilized farmlands has been a major threat for the sustenance of upper watershed area in Sri Lanka. The upper watershed area, one of the very important commons, covering a one thirteenth of the total land area of the country serves as the focal point of major rivers of which waters are used for hydro-electricity generation and irrigation purposes in the drier parts of the country. Over-exploitation of lands in upper watershed areas through extensive cultivation without practicing appropriate soil conservation measures has become a threat for the livelihood of majority of farmers. Sedimentation, pollution of downstream water bodies and siltation of reservoirs causing environmental and economic problems are the adverse off-site effects of accelerated soil erosion leading to land degradation in upper watershed areas that occurs at an alarming level. Different projects and programs implemented for last few decades, aiming at controlling the soil erosion in upper watershed area have been unable to deliver the envisaged outcomes, mostly due to the poor adoption of such soil conservation measures by farmers. There are, however, success stories in some villages within the same watershed area, related to such soil conservation programs and projects. This research investigated the unique characteristics associated with farmers and their crop production systems in the villages where the adoption rate of soil erosion control measures is significantly higher compared to the other villages in which such projects and programs were failed. Such characteristics or factors were viewed under; personal factors such as age, educational level and farming experience of the farmer, nature of farming, family size, on-farm and off-farm income of the household; institutional factors named land size, land tenure, involvement in farmer-organizational activities and farmers' interaction with agricultural service providers."Conference Paper 'Goths and Vandals' or 'Civilised' Farmers? Common Lands and Agricultural Productivity in Early 20th Century Spain(2013) Beltrán, Francisco"By analysing the different factors affecting labour agricultural productivity in early 20th century Spain, this paper shows that common lands were not detrimental to agricultural development. Even though privatisation fostered output per worker by bringing more land into cultivation, the role of the commons as provider of pasture and fertilising materials counteracted that effect, especially in humid regions. The supposed advantages of dismantling the communal regime are thus not supported by the data, so liberal thinkers were simply wrong or, given who mostly benefited from the sales, were seeking to promote vested interests."Conference Paper Community Cohesion and Distrust: Tracing the Roots of Resource Use and Social Equity in Maranhão, Brazil(2013) Porro, Robert"A comparative examination of trajectories of two communities in the Eastern Amazon experiencing land struggles in the 1980s sheds light on factors triggering their differential resource use patterns and contrasting ways in which social relations are manifested. While in one case community institutions were able enhance local livelihoods and residents welfare, institutions regulating resource-use in the other case have failed to establish rules for a sustainable system. The examination of social relations over extended periods supports our understanding of todays socioeconomic configurations in the two communities, and their interaction with the environment. Improved land-use planning is seen to require a state of affairs in which internal cooperation supersedes discord. Cooperation and agreement in one case, and discord and individual orientation in the other resulted from social facts that marked the communities during land occupation and subsequent state-supported land privatization. Processes examined reflected the contrast between a background of hierarchical, subordinated social relations, and a more egalitarian social structure. Todays discrepancies in land-use trajectories and social life were traced back to attitudes and the agency of local residents as they confronted socio-structural and ecological opportunities and constraints in the past."Conference Paper Communities, Commons and Climate Change Adaptation: Some Empirical Evidences from Nepal(2013) Uprety, Dharam; Subedi, Ramu"Recent studies demonstrate that rural communities dependent on agriculture and forest resources are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in Nepal, since about 25% of the population still live under poverty (<$1.25), and a major percentage of this section of population is forest and agricultural dependent. There are tremendous impacts of climate change, which local people experience in Nepal. Such impacts make the socioecological and economic system vulnerable in particular. The main impacts recorded by various studies conducted in Nepal are declining of agricultural productivity, disappearance or extinction of medicinal and aromatic plants, melting of glaciers, floods, change in rain pattern and shift of rainy season, and rise in temperature. The impacts on ecological and biological systems have serious consequences on the lives and livelihoods of people, particularly those living in poor rural areas and whose livelihood is connected to local commons. The study is based on a review of 516 Community Adaptation Plan of Action (CAPAs) and Local Adaptation plan of Action (LAPAs) prepared between 2009-2011 in 15 districts of Nepal, the baseline study of the Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme (MSFP), and a review study conducted in late 2012 on community adaptation in order to understand the local adaptation practices in three districts. A total of 516 adaptation plans were reviewed and more than 175 variables were defined for database preparation. The adaptation plans were first categorized into three broad categories: CAPA prepared at Terai districts (96 CAPA), CAPA prepared at hilly districts (274 CAPA), and LAPA prepared at hilly districts (146).These studies bring a number of insightful reflections and linkages between local commons, communities and climate change. Preliminary findings from the analysis of 516 CAPs revealed that community people have given high priority for climate education (37%), flood control (14%), use of low emission energy products like bio-gas, improved cooking stoves (17%), water security (15%), and food security (12%). While from a recent study, it has shown that a number of local adaptation practices - such as on- and off-farm quick impact related activities, rainwater harvesting, agri-cooperatives were initiated for managing local commons and securing livelihoods. Community Adaptation Plans of Action (CAPA) and Local Adaptation Plan of Actions (LAPA) is an adaptation plan prepared at community and VDC level respectively and is considered as the best practice to ensure the bottom up planning process."Conference Paper Diagnosing Oceanic Commons: ICCAT and the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna(2013) Epstein, Graham; Nenadovic, Mateja; Cox, Michael; Boustany, Andre"The governance of oceanic fisheries is a growing concern in the twenty-first century as their contribution to global food security and livelihoods are threatened by declining stocks. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (ABFT) is a prominent example of the complexities associated with managing oceanic resources with their extensive range, which includes much of the North-Atlantic and Mediterranean. This wide ranging distribution has led to limited attention from commons theorists that tend to focus on small-scale social ecological systems. In order to explore the fit between theories of the commons developed in small-scale systems, we applied the Social-Ecological Systems Meta-Analysis Database to systematically analyze ABFT governance over a 22 year period by the International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna. The results, which focus on the effects of resource characteristics, broadly correspond to expectations from commons theory. Interestingly, however, the addition of resource storage in the form of ABFT ranches appears to be contributing to unsustainable harvests. This stands in contrast to previous findings in the commons literature that storage tends to enhance prospects for sustainable governance. As a result of this finding several alternative hypotheses are identified for future research to consider the conditions under which storage enhances prospects for sustainable governance. Secondary contributions of this study include demonstrating the potential value of linking case studies to a large-n database for the purpose of generating and testing hypotheses, and adding an alternative theoretical perspective with which to study and explore ABFT governance."