Pandey, Deep Narayan. 2008. "Direct Sowing and Planting of Salvadora persica (Linn.) and Salvadora oleoides (Decne.) for Ecological Restoration and Livelihoods Improvement in Thar Desert." (Working Paper)
Full text available as: |
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Direct Sowing and Planting of Salvadora persica (Linn.) and Salvadora oleoides (Decne.) for Ecological Restoration and Livelihoods Improvement in Thar
Salvadora persica Linn. and Salvadora oleoides Decne. are two important species of western Rajasthan. In Thar desert, their wide ranging ecological, social and economic importance on the one hand and declining population on the other necessitates that the species are included in restoration programmes. Taking stock of the new advances in research and field experience on both the species, this technical note provides guidelines for raising S. persica and S. oleoides in Thar desert. In particular, both the species are capable of regenerating through direct seeding and planting of nursery-raised seedlings in the field. Thus, we need to enhance our efforts in incorporating these species in afforestation and restoration in Thar desert. This document is the first in a series of technical notes to support connecting science to decision making aimed at bridging the science--management divide in Jodhpur Forest Circle.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Linking Knowledge to Action for Sustainable Development in India
Pandey, Neha, Prakash, Chandra, and Deep Narayan Pandey. 2007. "Linking Knowledge to Action for Sustainable Development in India." To be presented at National Conference on Avenues for Empowering the Poor and Enhancing their Growth in the Era of Knowledge Economy, New Delhi, April 24-25, 2007.
Full text available as:PDF
Abstract
"Sustainable development is driven by knowledge because progress of society towards sustainability is a knowledge-intensive enterprise. Investing in creation, communication and linking knowledge to field and policy action is therefore necessary for ecological, economic and social well-being. While India ranks very high in terms of number of research papers published annually, when it comes to linking that knowledge to action for bringing human development it ranks very poorly. "The Human Development Index (HDI) for India is 0.611, which gives India a rank of 126th out of 177 countries. Drawing on the pioneering efforts on linking knowledge to action, here we argue that in order to reduce poverty and bring sustainable human development a concerted effort is required to design and implement strategies for connecting science to decision making across scales and sectors in India. We present a potential strategy for connecting science to decision-making. Good research is required to produce knowledge and a robust knowledge supply-chain is essential to link knowledge to policy and field action. We call upon the scientists to employ strategies for co-production of knowledge, and for people engaged in capacity building programs to employ co-synthesis of knowledge useful to solve the field problems. Practitioners and policy makers on their part are expected to link that knowledge to both field and policy to design and implement interventions for sustainable development."
Document Type:
Conference Paper
Keywords:
co-production
India-sustainability
developing countries
decision making
India-knowledge sharing
learning-India
ID Code:
2138
Full text available as:PDF
Abstract
"Sustainable development is driven by knowledge because progress of society towards sustainability is a knowledge-intensive enterprise. Investing in creation, communication and linking knowledge to field and policy action is therefore necessary for ecological, economic and social well-being. While India ranks very high in terms of number of research papers published annually, when it comes to linking that knowledge to action for bringing human development it ranks very poorly. "The Human Development Index (HDI) for India is 0.611, which gives India a rank of 126th out of 177 countries. Drawing on the pioneering efforts on linking knowledge to action, here we argue that in order to reduce poverty and bring sustainable human development a concerted effort is required to design and implement strategies for connecting science to decision making across scales and sectors in India. We present a potential strategy for connecting science to decision-making. Good research is required to produce knowledge and a robust knowledge supply-chain is essential to link knowledge to policy and field action. We call upon the scientists to employ strategies for co-production of knowledge, and for people engaged in capacity building programs to employ co-synthesis of knowledge useful to solve the field problems. Practitioners and policy makers on their part are expected to link that knowledge to both field and policy to design and implement interventions for sustainable development."
Document Type:
Conference Paper
Keywords:
co-production
India-sustainability
developing countries
decision making
India-knowledge sharing
learning-India
ID Code:
2138
Monday, April 2, 2007
Linking Local Knowledge to Global Markets: Livelihoods Improvement through Woodcarving in India
Role of traditional knowledge for the conservation science is acknowledged but the evidence related to its direct contribution to livelihoods and household income is often overlooked. Recent importance to woodcarving in India provides opportunity to explore if, and under what conditions, traditional knowledge on woodcarving contributes to livelihoods improvement and household incomes. There is a paucity of good studies on woodcarving in India but the preliminary information provides inference that a comparatively much better policy and governance, good infrastructure and a growing tourism play vital role in supporting local artisans and entrepreneurs to use their traditional knowledge for generating large household incomes. Although it seems plausible that local knowledge can support livelihoods improvement with suitable interventions, robust studies are urgently required to provide operational models for linking livelihoods and conservation through trade in woodcarving. Suitably designed action research is likely to provide insights for supporting livelihoods through woodcarving as well as promoting the tree-growing in agroecosystems to supply raw material for woodcarving enterprise.
Fulltext available at: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00002124/01/PandeyWood.pdf
Fulltext available at: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00002124/01/PandeyWood.pdf
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Making Money Work for the Poor in India: Inclusive Finance through Bank-Moneylender Linkages
Making Money Work for the Poor in India: Inclusive Finance through Bank-Moneylender Linkages
Garg, A.K., and Neha Pandey. 2007. "Making Money Work for the Poor in India: Inclusive Finance through Bank-Moneylender Linkages." (Working Paper)
Full text available as:PDF
http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00002110/01/Moneylending_Commons.pdf
"India has one of the most extensive financial systems comprising of commercial and cooperative banks, microfinance institutions and self-help groups. Yet, the vast majority of rural poor still does not have access to formal financial services necessary for poverty reduction and wealth creation. What effective measures are required to make money work for the poor? Here we draw on published research to show that neither banks nor microfinance institutions have been able to replace moneylenders in India. Indeed, the informal moneylenders have dynamically outmanoeuvred formal financial system in their reach to poor by their adaptive management skills and resilient social networks. We suggest that in order to reduce poverty and propel India towards sustainable human well-being a comprehensive financial system based on the bank-moneylender linkages is required. Without a full integration of traditional and contemporary financial innovations any attempt to expand the formal financial system in India is likely to be of limited utility to the poor."
Document Type:
Working Paper
Keywords:
economic change--India poverty alleviation--India business and finance--Indiaindigenous institutions--Indiainformal economy--India
Garg, A.K., and Neha Pandey. 2007. "Making Money Work for the Poor in India: Inclusive Finance through Bank-Moneylender Linkages." (Working Paper)
Full text available as:PDF
http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00002110/01/Moneylending_Commons.pdf
"India has one of the most extensive financial systems comprising of commercial and cooperative banks, microfinance institutions and self-help groups. Yet, the vast majority of rural poor still does not have access to formal financial services necessary for poverty reduction and wealth creation. What effective measures are required to make money work for the poor? Here we draw on published research to show that neither banks nor microfinance institutions have been able to replace moneylenders in India. Indeed, the informal moneylenders have dynamically outmanoeuvred formal financial system in their reach to poor by their adaptive management skills and resilient social networks. We suggest that in order to reduce poverty and propel India towards sustainable human well-being a comprehensive financial system based on the bank-moneylender linkages is required. Without a full integration of traditional and contemporary financial innovations any attempt to expand the formal financial system in India is likely to be of limited utility to the poor."
Document Type:
Working Paper
Keywords:
economic change--India poverty alleviation--India business and finance--Indiaindigenous institutions--Indiainformal economy--India
Linking Local Knowledge to Global Markets: Livelihoods Improvement through Woodcarving in India
Role of traditional knowledge for the conservation science is acknowledged but the evidence related to its direct contribution to livelihoods and household income is often overlooked. Recent importance to woodcarving in India provides opportunity to explore if, and under what conditions, traditional knowledge on woodcarving contributes to livelihoods improvement and household incomes. There is a paucity of good studies on woodcarving in India but the preliminary information provides inference that a comparatively much better policy and governance, good infrastructure and a growing tourism play vital role in supporting local artisans and entrepreneurs to use their traditional knowledge for generating large household incomes. Although it seems plausible that local knowledge can support livelihoods improvement with suitable interventions, robust studies are urgently required to provide operational models for linking livelihoods and conservation through trade in woodcarving. Suitably designed action research is likely to provide insights for supporting livelihoods through woodcarving as well as promoting the tree-growing in agroecosystems to supply raw material for woodcarving enterprise.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
NTFP trade is not likely to reconcile development and conservation
NTFP trade is unlikely to reconcile development and conservation of natural forest, says a study that forms part of the world's largest and most comprehensive NTFP research. On the basis of the analysis of 55 cases across Asia, Africa and Latin America, the study team at CIFOR concludes that commercial production of nontimber forest products is not likely to reconcile the goals of conservation and development. "More of the one tends to mean less of the other", say the researchers. Read on...
"To what extent and under which conditions nontimber forest product (NTFP) trade leads to both livelihood improvement and forest conservation?" This was the question asked by the researchers at Center for International Forestry Research(CIFOR). In order to find an answer they analysed 55 cases of NTFP trade from three continents--Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They developed and used a methodology to assess livelihood and environmental outcomes, based on expert judgments. However, in order to maximize the objectivity they designed two assessment tools that were used by the individual case researchers associated with 55 cases. This was necessary to make the individual assessments systematic, comprehensive, to help ensure that all important issues are considered, and consistent, such that different assessors familiar with the case would make similar assessments. The team analyzed the livelihood and environmental outcomes independently as well as the relationship between the development and conservation outcomes using the statistical tools such as principal component analysis.
The results of the analysis by Koen Kusters, Ramadhani Achdiawan, Brian Belcher and Manuel Ruiz Pérezs shows that overall, nontimber forest product trade has a positive impact on local livelihoods, but there are greater differences in the environmental outcomes. The study shows that: (1) while NTFP trade benefits local livelihoods, it may increase inequality between households; (2) involvement of women in the production-to-consumption system (PCS) tends to have a positive impact on intrahousehold equity; and (3) in 80% of the cases, the commercial production of NTFPs does not enable people to make financial investments to increase quality and quantity of production, limiting the potential for development.
However, the most depressing news to those who have believed NTFP to be the panacea for sustainable forest use, is the finding, as Kusters et al. note, that: "In our set of cases, commercial extraction from the wild, without further management, tends to lead to resource depletion. NTFP production systems are generally considered to have lower environmental values than natural forest, but do contribute positively to the environmental values in the landscape. We found that higher livelihood outcomes are associated with lower environmental outcomes and conclude that NTFP trade is not likely to reconcile development and conservation of natural forest".
How can we link this knowledge to field and policy action? There seem to be a key application of this research. As authors rightly suggest "breaking away from the proposition that NTFP trade automatically reconciles conservation and development objectives will help the relevant agencies to formulate realistic objectives, and to also consider the potential negative effects of their interventions". Efforts to achieve NTFP-based development need to create conditions that enable people to intensify forest product management and production and improve their market access. But these same conditions tend to have negative impacts on natural forests. Governments and conservation and development organizations working in this area need to understand these trade-offs.
To read the full text of the paper go to the open access journal Ecology and Society link given below:
Kusters, K., R. Achdiawan, B. Belcher, and M. Ruiz Pérez 2006. "Balancing development and conservation? An assessment of livelihood and environmental outcomes of nontimber forest product trade in Asia, Africa, and Latin America". Ecology and Society 11(2): 20. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss2/art20/
Other publications can be accessed at the CIFOR website: Just click http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/publications/search and enter the name of author as "Belcher" in the advance search box (Dr Brian Belcher, Principal Scientist at CIFOR led the global NTFP research). Search results will yield links to numerous Full Text reports, papers and documents.
"To what extent and under which conditions nontimber forest product (NTFP) trade leads to both livelihood improvement and forest conservation?" This was the question asked by the researchers at Center for International Forestry Research(CIFOR). In order to find an answer they analysed 55 cases of NTFP trade from three continents--Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They developed and used a methodology to assess livelihood and environmental outcomes, based on expert judgments. However, in order to maximize the objectivity they designed two assessment tools that were used by the individual case researchers associated with 55 cases. This was necessary to make the individual assessments systematic, comprehensive, to help ensure that all important issues are considered, and consistent, such that different assessors familiar with the case would make similar assessments. The team analyzed the livelihood and environmental outcomes independently as well as the relationship between the development and conservation outcomes using the statistical tools such as principal component analysis.
The results of the analysis by Koen Kusters, Ramadhani Achdiawan, Brian Belcher and Manuel Ruiz Pérezs shows that overall, nontimber forest product trade has a positive impact on local livelihoods, but there are greater differences in the environmental outcomes. The study shows that: (1) while NTFP trade benefits local livelihoods, it may increase inequality between households; (2) involvement of women in the production-to-consumption system (PCS) tends to have a positive impact on intrahousehold equity; and (3) in 80% of the cases, the commercial production of NTFPs does not enable people to make financial investments to increase quality and quantity of production, limiting the potential for development.
However, the most depressing news to those who have believed NTFP to be the panacea for sustainable forest use, is the finding, as Kusters et al. note, that: "In our set of cases, commercial extraction from the wild, without further management, tends to lead to resource depletion. NTFP production systems are generally considered to have lower environmental values than natural forest, but do contribute positively to the environmental values in the landscape. We found that higher livelihood outcomes are associated with lower environmental outcomes and conclude that NTFP trade is not likely to reconcile development and conservation of natural forest".
How can we link this knowledge to field and policy action? There seem to be a key application of this research. As authors rightly suggest "breaking away from the proposition that NTFP trade automatically reconciles conservation and development objectives will help the relevant agencies to formulate realistic objectives, and to also consider the potential negative effects of their interventions". Efforts to achieve NTFP-based development need to create conditions that enable people to intensify forest product management and production and improve their market access. But these same conditions tend to have negative impacts on natural forests. Governments and conservation and development organizations working in this area need to understand these trade-offs.
To read the full text of the paper go to the open access journal Ecology and Society link given below:
Kusters, K., R. Achdiawan, B. Belcher, and M. Ruiz Pérez 2006. "Balancing development and conservation? An assessment of livelihood and environmental outcomes of nontimber forest product trade in Asia, Africa, and Latin America". Ecology and Society 11(2): 20. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss2/art20/
Other publications can be accessed at the CIFOR website: Just click http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/publications/search and enter the name of author as "Belcher" in the advance search box (Dr Brian Belcher, Principal Scientist at CIFOR led the global NTFP research). Search results will yield links to numerous Full Text reports, papers and documents.
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