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Conference Paper Resource Entitlements and Conflict Management in Common Grazing Lands: The Case of Yerer and Daketa Valleys, Eastern Ethiopia(2004) Bogale, Ayalneh; Hagedorn, Konrad; Korf, Benedikt"The livelihoods of both livestock-keeping pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in eastern Ethiopian lowlands largely depend on livestock production based on property right systems originated from communal ownership for grazing lands and with exclusive rights of the household to crop lands. Even though these systems served well during low population and livestock density, the debate over common property regimes among development and resource economists is progressively more lively. "Since Hardin's prediction that all commonly managed resources would inevitably end in tragedy, many studies have challenged the overall acceptability of his theory (See for instance: Ostrom, 1990, Bromely, 1992, Swallow and Bromley, 1995, White and Runge, 1995). These studies shed light to the institutions-resource entitlement relationships in ever changing environment and shift in policies in pursuit of new strategies. The notion of entitlement which was first introduced by Amartya Sen to explain how it is that people can starve in the midst of food plenty in the early 1980s and adapted to capture spatial and temporal variability and dynamic processes inherent in environmental goods by Leach et al. (1999) is helpful in clarifying this shift in emphasis. Leach et al. (1999) shows how access to and control over natural resources is mediated by a set of interacting and overlapping institutions, both formal and informal, which are embedded in social life of rural communities. "The management of rangelands in Yerer and Daketa valleys depends on a complex body of rules established by local groups-rules established over time to resolve how best to regulate access to grazing lands. The definition of these rules, their supervision and adjustment depend on local organizations acting under the authority of traditional institutions. These organizations rarely act without having obtained widespread support for the decisions that need to be taken, by seeking the advice of tribal headmen and various local interests. In order to reinforce local management capacities, one needs to think it very important to strengthen these consensual decision-making systems. "Therefore, this study will sensitise policy makers, contribute to the policy debate and to the development of actions, which enhance sustainable pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods and to help households to cope during conditions of particular scarcity. The research study investigates how conflicting interests to multiple resource use and users are managed and how increasing pressure for resource access affects different communities as soon as pressure on resources increases. The research assesses local institutions, including social networks that mediate resource entitlements and how these institutions (1) are able to resolve conflicts and disputes on resources use and (2) how they mediate distributional issues over resources. We understand institutions as emerging sites of social interaction, negotiation and contestation comprising heterogeneous actors having diverse goals. Given the ecological uncertainties and the variation of resource users over space and time, institutional arrangements for resource governance may be ad hoc, ambiguous and overlapping. "Although limited in scope/coverage, it is expected that this study will identify significant variables in the resource entitlement conflict management linkage. It focuses on institutional arrangements that prevail in the study area which facilitate mobility of pastoralists for mutual benefits."Conference Paper War and the Commons: Assessing the Changing Politics of Violence, Access and Entitlements in Sri Lanka(2004) Korf, Benedikt; Fünfgeld, Hartmut"This paper investigates the impacts of political violence on access to local commons and looks at local contestsover resource entitlements under the condition of warfare and post-war transition in Sri Lanka. We map out two essential trajectories of refused and contested access to commons in the highly volatile institutional setting ofwar and post-war situations: On the one hand, the political geography of war and fighting creates 'no-go zones'. These often include local commons, such as jungle, lagoon and marine resources that become places ofincreased military contest. On the other hand, threats, intimidation and violence to admit or refuse access toresources for the 'ethnic other' is utilized as an essential instrument in the local contestations over ethnic identity, historical entitlements and discourses of spatial claims. In this volatile setup, social and politicalcapital play crucial, though highly ambiguous roles for accessing the commons, and they are subject to continuous value change, depending on the political developments of the conflict. We illustrate this dynamism using two case studies of local common-pool and open-access resource systems in the war-affected east of Sri Lanka. In the first case study, we describe local contests over water distribution in a large-scale irrigation scheme located in a multi-ethnic area. In this case, farmers utilize their hydraulic positions within the irrigationset-up for both, gaining material advantages (diverting more water for irrigation) and using water as a means of power against the 'ethnic other'. Spatial access to water and land may be actively denied by physicalviolence or discouraged by intimidation. In doing so, civilians are embedded in a complex clientele network with local political and military power holders. The second case study highlights issues of changing access rights and resource use patterns in a large lagoon ecosystem. Since the lagoon was part of a militarily contested terrain during times of war, this produced severe access restrictions and security problems for local customary resource users. When overt violence came to a halt with the signing of a ceasefire and access was open again, alarge number of customary and new users started exploiting lagoon resources, which led to increasing interandintra-community tension and resource overexploitation. Both case studies illustrate the volatile, polarised and hybrid nature of local institutions which produce a governance failure. These failed institutions undermine local peace building, because they feed back into existing political grievances."Conference Paper Property Rights, Collective Action and Poverty: The Role of Institutions for Poverty Reduction(2004) Di Gregorio, Monica; Hagedorn, Konrad; Kirk, Michael; Korf, Benedikt; McCarthy, Nancy; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth; Swallow, Brent M.From Introduction: "...This paper presents a conceptual framework for examining how property rights and collective action can contribute to poverty reduction, including both external interventions and action by poor people themselves. We begin with definitions of the key concepts--poverty, property rights, and collective action. We then turn to an examination of how property rights and collective action are related to poverty outcomes, building upon the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. This interdisciplinary framework allows analysis of a wide range of interactions, and is useful for eliciting relevant questions for examination in any particular case. At the heart of this framework is the action arena, which is shaped by initial conditions and, in turn, determines a range of outcomes. Applying this framework to poverty reduction, we present an analysis of the initial conditions of poverty, including the asset base, risks and vulnerability, legal structure and power relations. We next look at the dynamics of actors both poor and non-poor and how they use the tangible and intangible resources they have to shape their livelihoods and the institutions in which they live. We conclude with a discussion of how this framework can improve our understanding of the outcomes in terms of changes in poverty status. "Discussing such complex and dynamic processes in one paper requires generalization, yet we know that both the material and institutional conditions of the poor vary from place to place, and change over time. Recognizing the importance of local circumstances, we have phrased many of the key points as propositions, to be considered for different situations, but not necessarily applying to all. We hope that this will provide a basis for further thinking and discussion; and in particular, for further empirical analysis, which can advance our understanding of the role collective action and property rights can play in poverty reduction."