Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management

Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management
Author: Julian F. Gonsalves
Publisher: IDRC
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2005
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1552501817

Intended for aspiring and new practitioners of Participatory Research and Development (PR&D) as well as field-based researchers in developing countries. Highlights that agricultural research and development has become a joint approach to deal with diverse biophysical environments, multiple livelihood goals, rapid changes in local and global economies, and an expanded range for stakeholders over agriculture and natural resources.

The New Generation of Watershed Management Programmes and Projects

The New Generation of Watershed Management Programmes and Projects
Author:
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2006
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9789251055519

On the occasion of the International Year of Mountains-2002, FAO and its partners undertook a large-scale assessment and global review of the current status and future trends of integrated and participatory watershed management. The overall objectives were to promote the exchange and dissemination of experiences in implementing watershed management projects in the decade from 1990 to 2000 and to identify the vision for a new generation of watershed management programmes and projects. This resource book represents a summary and critical analysis of the rich discussions and vast materials that emerged during the review, as well as the review's findings and recommendations. It presents the state of the art in watershed management, promotes further reflection and creative thinking and proposes new ideas and approaches for future watershed management programmes and projects. This publication has been written primarily for field-level watershed management practitioners and local decision-makers involved in watershed management at the district or municipality level. It will also be a useful source of information for other readers such as senior officers and consultants specialized in other areas, evaluators, policy-makers and students of watershed management

Integrated Watershed Management

Integrated Watershed Management
Author: H. M. Gregersen
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2007
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1845932811

Land and water management is especially critical as the use of upstream watersheds can drastically affect large numbers of people living in downstream watersheds. This work examines the institutional and technical context for managing watersheds and river basins, including the involvement of both the public and private sectors.

Nature-based Solutions for Resilient Ecosystems and Societies

Nature-based Solutions for Resilient Ecosystems and Societies
Author: Shalini Dhyani
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2020-07-07
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9811547122

Over the past few decades, the frequency and severity of natural and human-induced disasters have increased across Asia. These disasters lead to substantial loss of life, livelihoods and community assets, which not only threatens the pace of socio-economic development, but also undo hard-earned gains. Extreme events and disasters such as floods, droughts, heat, fire, cyclones and tidal surges are known to be exacerbated by environmental changes including climate change, land-use changes and natural resource degradation. Increasing climate variability and multi-dimensional vulnerabilities have severely affected the social, ecological and economic capacities of the people in the region who are, economically speaking, those with the least capacity to adapt. Climatic and other environmental hazards and anthropogenic risks, coupled with weak and wavering capacities, severely impact the ecosystems and Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) and, thereby, to human well-being. Long-term resilience building through disaster risk reduction and integrated adaptive climate planning, therefore, has become a key priority for scientists and policymakers alike. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is a cost-effective approach that utilizes ecosystem and biodiversity services for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, while also providing a range of co-benefits like sustainable livelihoods and food, water and energy security. This book discusses the concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) – both as a science and as art – and elaborates on how it can be applied to develop healthy and resilient ecosystems locally, nationally, regionally and globally. The book covers illustrative methods and tools adopted for applying NbS in different countries. The authors discuss NbS applications and challenges, research trends and future insights that have wider regional and global relevance. The aspects covered include: landscape restoration, ecosystem-based adaptation, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, ecological restoration, ecosystem-based protected areas management, green infrastructure development, nature-friendly infrastructure development in various ecosystem types, agro-climatic zones and watersheds. The book offers insights into understanding the sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the grass roots level and can help indigenous and local communities harness ecosystem services to help achieve them. It offers a unique, essential resource for researchers, students, corporations, administrators and policymakers working in the fields of the environment, geography, development, policy planning, the natural sciences, life sciences, agriculture, health, climate change and disaster studies.

Patterns of Social Exclusion in Watershed Development in India

Patterns of Social Exclusion in Watershed Development in India
Author: Eshwer B. Kale
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-08
Genre:
ISBN: 9781527552104

This book explores the exclusion of community groups from the perspective of people's equal opportunities and equal access to newly generated economic benefits, tracing the factors determining their denial and exclusion. Paying specific attention to watershed development projects, it considers the detailed processes involved in the denial of institutional and livelihood opportunities to resource-poor groups, and discusses potential avenues for their meaningful social inclusion in the governance of natural resources.

Watershed Development Projects in India

Watershed Development Projects in India
Author: J. M. Kerr
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0896291294

The Green Revolution that transformed irrigated agriculture elsewhere in India had little effect in the rainfed, semi-arid regions. Agricultural productivity remained low, natural resources were degrading, and the people were poor. In the 1980s and 1990s, planners turned to watershed management to develop rainfed agriculture while conserving natural resources. By the late 1990s, India was spending US$500 million a year on watershed development projects. Strategies ranged from the purely technical to those that emphasized social organization. Little systematic analysis exists, however, on the success of the different approaches. This study, based on a survey of 86 villages in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states, attempts to fill that information gap by evaluating the projects' relative success in raising agricultural productivity, improving natural resource management, and reducing poverty. In looking at the question of what approaches enable a project to succeed, it uses both quantitative and qualitative analysis to compare project and nonproject villages before and after the projects were implemented. The authors find that projects involving the villagers in planning and decisionmaking performed better than their technocratic, top-down counterparts, but projects that combined participation with sound technical input performed best of all. All projects faced difficulties in ensuring that poor people shared the benefits of watershed development.

Participatory Watershed Development

Participatory Watershed Development
Author: John Farrington
Publisher:
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2000
Genre: Nature
ISBN:

Efforts have long been made in India to improve the management of major watersheds for ecological reasons - such as reducing the siltation of reservoirs. The management of micro-watersheds (of around 500 hectares) is a more recent focus of policy and has both ecology and livelihoods as itsobjectives. Experiments have shown that, in some areas, more than a doubling of resource productivity can be achieved by careful rehablitation. Many watersheds contain both private and common land. It is already clear from a number a efforts led by NGOs that, to be equitable and institutionally sustainable, the rehabilitation of both common and private lands needs action rooted in strong resource user-groups capable of taking decisions ina participatory way and resolving conflict. To build up groups in this way requires both time and skills, both of which have proved elusive in government projects and programmes. The key question addressed in this book is how far the approaches developed by NGOs can be adopted (or adapted) by the public sector and applied on a wide scale,for, without such approaches, neither the ecological nor the livelihood benefits of watershed rehabilitation will be achieved.