Suchergebnisse

A vast amount of research has focused on the dynamics of the Thai agricultural sector and rural areas. The study describes two narratives that have emerged from the existing research. One narrative portrays a thriving innovative agricultural sector, striving to develop systems to promote and guarantee good agricultural practices. The other narrative depicts a dwindling agricultural sector with an ageing farming population or where farmers have diverse non-farming activities and where farming no longer constitutes a major source of income. Most research studies fail to consider the link between the two apparently contradictory narratives. Similarly, recent national development plans in Thailand make reference to both narratives, without establishing a formal link between the two. This study proposes how future research could be oriented to establish a link to further our understanding of the current changes taking place in the agricultural sector and in rural areas in Thailand.

Morocco began an ambitious agricultural policy called the Green Morocco Plan (GMP) in 2008. This paper analyses the rationale behind the plan, that is, the overall consistency between: (i) the initial assessment of the agricultural sector; (ii) the goals defined for the plan; and (iii) the instruments used to achieve these goals. The analysis is based on a review of policy documents and instruments implemented in the framework of the Plan. The original assessment, which was conducted to frame the Plan, highlighted a dual agricultural sector with traditional and modern farms. The key goals of the GMP are to increase agricultural production and farm income, and to ensure the sustainable development of rural territories. The rationale of the Plan is that, to achieve these goals, public actions should break away from the dual structure of the sector, support investments, and improve the organisation of agricultural value chains. However, this paper shows that the farm typology outlined in the original assessment was in fact inaccurate, and that, in practice, the Plan does not take the diversity of farms into account. Moreover, most of the instruments designed to improve the organisation of agricultural value chains do not give importance to the share of the value added that benefits farmers, and most of the instruments of the plan do not take the territorial level into account. As a result, the aim of the GMP is to transform rural areas through improved economic performance but, due to inaccuracies in its rationale, its focus is generally limited to enhancing agricultural production.

The management of water resources is being transformed in South Africa. All water users, especially the small-scale ones, are now invited to participate in this movement. This report reviews the process of inclusion of small-scale users in the new large-scale Water User Associations (WUA).Considering the difficulties encountered in this process, this report also recommend external monitoring after the transformation of an Irrigation Board into a WUA. This method may also facilitate assessment of the inclusion of small-scale users into catchment management agencies, and water resource management organizations.

Le Maroc vit une période de forte croissance des projets locaux de développement rural et agricole. Cette note de lecture présente quelques études sur les relations entre acteurs pour la conception et mise en oeuvre de tels projets, à la fois au niveau international et au Maroc. Ces études ont montré que, malgré une démarche souvent formellement participative, l'ensemble des acteurs impliqués (bailleur de fonds, opérateurs du développement, et habitants des zones rurales) n'agissent que rarement de façon conjointe pour concevoir et mener à bien les projets. Ces études montrent ainsi la nécessité d'une plus grande clarté dans la définition du terme de " participation ", et l'importance des processus de reddition de compte à double sens entre l'ensemble des acteurs impliqués.

In northern Chile groundwater resources are used intensively for mining activities, drinking water and agriculture. This article analyses the groundwater management in the Pampa del Tamarugal Aquifer , paying special attention to the links between (a) how information relating to groundwater resources and its uses is applied to management and (b) actors ' strategies and discourses on groundwater management. The analysis focuses on two moments: the decision to stop issuing new water rights and the short - lived experience of a regional water resources research centre. Actors never actually discussed an appropriate groundwater pumping rate and some used groundwater resources as a means of pursuing strategies that were not related to water management per se. Many called for a participatory process to allocate water for different uses, although this would entail changes to Chilean legislation. Such a process would help the Pampa del Tamarugal Aquifer become more 'visible' and could trigger genuine discussion about the status and use of groundwater resources.

Moroccan agricultural policies have not encouraged farmer participation in the design of development projects. However, changes are underway in Moroccan rural society, involving democratic opening and higher literacy rates. The present study analysed how farmers exercised agency in the design of two projects for the production and marketing of apples. These farmers had limited patronage networks to provide leverage on the main actor involved in decision-making, but their leaders had a good level of education. Farmers actively negotiated the characteristics of the projects, especially by making counter-proposals that took public actors' objectives and constraints into account. For negotiations at higher levels, they formed coalitions with the local administration. Key characteristics of the projects were modified according to farmers' proposals. This way of exercising agency is innovative in the sense that it is not based on claiming rights or on cultivating relations with influential figures.

In the last 50 years, the study of groundwater governance has given birth to rich and differentiated analytical approaches. This article proposes an exchange between the main heuristic viewpoints, results and theses of three approaches which studied groundwater governance: the study of groundwater governance as collective action initiated by E. Ostrom, the analysis made by T. Shah on informal groundwater economies and the works of A. Prakash, A. Mukherji and T. Birkenholtz drawing on political ecology. The aquifers on which each approach originally built its analysis played a key role in the design of analytical frameworks which, in the case of the first two approaches, were later applied to a much larger set of cases. The three approaches share many commonalities in their heuristic methods. However, they differ in the content of governance systems recommended to achieve sustainable groundwater use, and especially in the benefits of involving water users in the implementation of governance. Therefore, they also differ on what should be the focus of academic analyses. It is thus of interest to organize joint readings of cases of groundwater governance and to discuss the contents of research programs able to provide fruitful analyses of these cases, based on local specificities.

In the last 50 years, the study of groundwater governance has given birth to rich and differentiated analytical approaches. This article proposes an exchange between the main heuristic viewpoints, results and theses of three approaches which studied groundwater governance: the study of groundwater governance as collective action initiated by E. Ostrom, the analysis made by T. Shah on informal groundwater economies and the works of A. Prakash, A. Mukherji and T. Birkenholtz drawing on political ecology. The aquifers on which each approach originally built its analysis played a key role in the design of analytical frameworks which, in the case of the first two approaches, were later applied to a much larger set of cases. The three approaches share many commonalities in their heuristic methods. However, they differ in the content of governance systems recommended to achieve sustainable groundwater use, and especially in the benefits of involving water users in the implementation of governance. Therefore, they also differ on what should be the focus of academic analyses. It is thus of interest to organize joint readings of cases of groundwater governance and to discuss the contents of research programs able to provide fruitful analyses of these cases, based on local specificities.

In the last 50 years, the study of groundwater governance has given birth to rich and differentiated analytical approaches. This article proposes an exchange between the main heuristic viewpoints, results and theses of three approaches which studied groundwater governance: the study of groundwater governance as collective action initiated by E. Ostrom, the analysis made by T. Shah on informal groundwater economies and the works of A. Prakash, A. Mukherji and T. Birkenholtz drawing on political ecology. The aquifers on which each approach originally built its analysis played a key role in the design of analytical frameworks which, in the case of the first two approaches, were later applied to a much larger set of cases. The three approaches share many commonalities in their heuristic methods. However, they differ in the content of governance systems recommended to achieve sustainable groundwater use, and especially in the benefits of involving water users in the implementation of governance. Therefore, they also differ on what should be the focus of academic analyses. It is thus of interest to organize joint readings of cases of groundwater governance and to discuss the contents of research programs able to provide fruitful analyses of these cases, based on local specificities.

In the last 50 years, the study of groundwater governance has given birth to rich and differentiated analytical approaches. This article proposes an exchange between the main heuristic viewpoints, results and theses of three approaches which studied groundwater governance: the study of groundwater governance as collective action initiated by E. Ostrom, the analysis made by T. Shah on informal groundwater economies and the works of A. Prakash, A. Mukherji and T. Birkenholtz drawing on political ecology. The aquifers on which each approach originally built its analysis played a key role in the design of analytical frameworks which, in the case of the first two approaches, were later applied to a much larger set of cases. The three approaches share many commonalities in their heuristic methods. However, they differ in the content of governance systems recommended to achieve sustainable groundwater use, and especially in the benefits of involving water users in the implementation of governance. Therefore, they also differ on what should be the focus of academic analyses. It is thus of interest to organize joint readings of cases of groundwater governance and to discuss the contents of research programs able to provide fruitful analyses of these cases, based on local specificities.