Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods

Using empirical data from 87 watershed communities in semiarid India, our study has shown that collective action in watershed management can be captured through a set of variables that indicate the capacity of communities to design and enforce certain common institutional arrangements and their abil...

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Main Authors: Shiferaw, Bekele, Kebede, Tewodros A., Reddy, V. Ratna
Format: Book Chapter
Language:Inglés
Published: University of Pennsylvania Press 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154036
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author Shiferaw, Bekele
Kebede, Tewodros A.
Reddy, V. Ratna
author_browse Kebede, Tewodros A.
Reddy, V. Ratna
Shiferaw, Bekele
author_facet Shiferaw, Bekele
Kebede, Tewodros A.
Reddy, V. Ratna
author_sort Shiferaw, Bekele
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Using empirical data from 87 watershed communities in semiarid India, our study has shown that collective action in watershed management can be captured through a set of variables that indicate the capacity of communities to design and enforce certain common institutional arrangements and their ability to mobilize local financial and labor resources for watershed investments. The level of collective action in terms of internal institutional capacity was affected negatively by the size of the groups (number of households and area of the village), while distance from markets and high rainfall seemed to increase it. On the other hand, collective action in terms of internal mobilization capacity decreased with rainfall, size of group, number of seasonal migrants, and distance from the seat of the local administration but increased with area of the village, flow of information within the village, and the share of land under village commons. The mobilization capacity also seems to have increased with equitable distribution of benefits and preference for employment of the rural poor and female workers. However, the results clearly show that in most watershed communities the level of collective action is very limited, indicating that only few communities have achieved higher levels of active participation of resource users in watershed programs.
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spelling CGSpace1540362025-11-06T03:46:54Z Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods Shiferaw, Bekele Kebede, Tewodros A. Reddy, V. Ratna poverty property rights assets legal rights community organizations Using empirical data from 87 watershed communities in semiarid India, our study has shown that collective action in watershed management can be captured through a set of variables that indicate the capacity of communities to design and enforce certain common institutional arrangements and their ability to mobilize local financial and labor resources for watershed investments. The level of collective action in terms of internal institutional capacity was affected negatively by the size of the groups (number of households and area of the village), while distance from markets and high rainfall seemed to increase it. On the other hand, collective action in terms of internal mobilization capacity decreased with rainfall, size of group, number of seasonal migrants, and distance from the seat of the local administration but increased with area of the village, flow of information within the village, and the share of land under village commons. The mobilization capacity also seems to have increased with equitable distribution of benefits and preference for employment of the rural poor and female workers. However, the results clearly show that in most watershed communities the level of collective action is very limited, indicating that only few communities have achieved higher levels of active participation of resource users in watershed programs. 2011 2024-10-01T13:59:05Z 2024-10-01T13:59:05Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154036 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20912 https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896298064 Open Access application/pdf University of Pennsylvania Press Shiferaw, Bekele; Kebede, Tewodros A.; and Reddy, V. Ratna. 2011. Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods. In Collective action and property rights for poverty reduction: Insights from Africa and Asia, ed. Esther Mwangi; Helen Markelova; and Ruth Suseela Meinzen-Dick. Chapter 6. Pp. 153-188 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. Published for the International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154036
spellingShingle poverty
property rights
assets
legal rights
community organizations
Shiferaw, Bekele
Kebede, Tewodros A.
Reddy, V. Ratna
Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods
title Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods
title_full Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods
title_fullStr Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods
title_full_unstemmed Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods
title_short Community watershed management in semiarid India: The state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods
title_sort community watershed management in semiarid india the state of collective action and its effects on natural resources and rural livelihoods
topic poverty
property rights
assets
legal rights
community organizations
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154036
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