Decentralization Reforms and Property Rights (LTRA-1)
This is one of five SANREM CRSP projects addressing sustainable agriculture and natural resource management issues in 11 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America through September 2009. Though each project is independent, cross-cutting issues will tie together synergies across landscape system levels.
| Project Title |
Decentralization Reforms and Property Rights: Potentials and Puzzles for Forest Sustainability and Livelihoods (LTRA-1)
|
|
Principal Investigators |
Elinor Ostrom, Co-Director
Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis
Indiana University
Krister Andersson, Research Coordinator
International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI)
Indiana University
Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Coordinator
CGIAR Systemwide Program on Collective Action & Property Rights (CAPRi)
Esther Mwangi, Postdoctoral Fellow
Program on Collective Action & Property Rights (CAPRi)
International Food Policy Research Institute
Bruce Campbell, Director
Forests and Livelihoods Program
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
Marty Luckert, Research Associate
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
|
|
Abstract |
Decentralization and property rights reform policies formulated at the national (governance/policy) level for large geographic domains often fail to account for the complexities involved in land use at the local (farm/field/forest) level, and can thus fall short of their goals of sustainable natural resource management (NRM) and improving local livelihoods. This research will collect and analyze data from Uganda, Kenya, Mexico, and Bolivia to identify the institutional conditions and interactions that will deliver benefits equitably to local people while sustaining natural resources. Utilizing the research networks of the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) program, the Program on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi, hosted at the International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI), and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the project will answer the following: (1) What motivates the implementation of decentralization policies in the forestry sector? (2) What are the implications of forest decentralization policies for different groups, including women, the poor, and marginalized groups, at the local level? How can different interests be accommodated? (3) What are the implications of forest decentralization policies for resource conservation, biodiversity, and ecological sustainability at the local level? (4) How may public policies be modified to more effectively improve both the ecological sustainability of forests and the livelihoods of the communities that depend on them?
|
|
