Looking at land and water management issues through a livelihoods lens?
Impact of land and water management interventions has been low in the Blue Nile basin, partly due to low levels of adoption. Historically approaches to RWM have
been technology‐oriented and top‐down in approach with little regard for the needs, aspirations, constraints and livelihood realities of farming communities. A
people centered approach is required which takes into account local livelihood strategies, cultural, social and institutional dynamics as well as power relations and
gender.
Livelihoods are complex: thorough assessment and stakeholder engagement is required to gain an adequate understanding. Illustrated below are examples of
livelihood issues and the implications for RWM in Jeldu, one of the NBDC sites.
Livelihood issues Implications for RWM Farmer perspectives
Why should I invest in Being landless, why would I
MIGRATION laborious and time consuming expend labor on RWM when
RWM when my son can bring I can work in off‐farm
Significant levels of seasonal migration, quick cash from Addis? Adama activities.
mainly by young people, to Addis Ababa, or Arsi?
Adama, Arsi and other towns for at least 3
months a year.
• Seasonal migration patterns potentially
affect RWM targeting
• Labor fluctuations have implications for
RWM planning and implementation
• Can lead to conflicting interests‐ migration
may seem more beneficial
Debo work groups are
preferable to campaign‐led
activities because we can
make our own arrangements
COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS
Livestock, land and labor sharing are prominent • Community‐based institutions build up
social institutions within communities relationships, cooperation, and social networks
which often go beyond political boundaries used
by RWM planning
• Resource sharing has implications for RWM
strategies requiring collective action: there is Is increased productivity Why should I reduce my
existing potential that could be utilized really the answer to livestock numbers? The
everything? more I have the more
networks I can establish
• Livestock intensification and destocking for
Land rental Livestock donation NRM may impact on social capital, networks and
coping strategies
• Strong cultural values around livestock:
g g , /
significance for marriage, social status/wealth &
emotional wellbeing so people may be resistant
to changes
Oxen sharing Debo work group
My animals are like my
LANDLESSNESS children, I know them all by
name. It is difficult to get rid of
Significant levels of landlessness among the them
youth caused by population pressure and land • Lack of access to, and ownership of,
fragmentation leading to a variety of productive resources may lead to lack of
livelihood strategies e.g. land renting, incentives for adopting RWM, particularly on
migration, daily labor.
migration daily labor rented land
rented land
• Landlessness among the young can lead to
them seeking land in other areas, for example
clearing uncultivated land which can lead to
further resource degradation Why would I put long term
investment into rented land
when my focus is just on this
year’s production
Ways forward
For RWM strategies to be successful, project planning and design need to consider the context in which people access natural resources, what shapes or constrains
their access, what factors influence adoption or lack of adoption of RWM strategies and technologies, whose livelihoods will be improved and who might lose out.
Beth Cullen, Alemayehu Belay, Katherine Snyder,
Kebebe Ergano, Alan Duncan
(Photos: Beth Cullen)
Prepared for the International Forum on Water and Food, South Africa, 14‐17 November 2011