ICRISAT Archival Report 2006 - The seedlings of success in the ...

2.1.2 How is it implemented?
Napcod initially developed local level monitoring in four pilot communities, Grootberg in north western Namibia,
Omatjete in western Namibia, Onkani in north central Namibia, and Gibeon in southern Namibia (Figure 2).
However, after the system was tested in these areas, other stakeholders such as the government’s extension services,
CBOs and NGOs in Namibia wanted to use the same tool in other parts of the country. Presently the LLM system
has been introduced and is being implemented at various levels in seven areas throughout Namibia (Figure 2 and
Table 2).
2.1.3 Up-scaling the technology
The LLM system was initially developed and implemented at four Napcod pilot sites. However, the system has been
adopted by other stakeholders, ie, government extension services, CBOs and NGOs. The progress of the
implementation of these different initiatives is summarized in Table 2.
As can be seen in Table 2, the level of success of the implementation differs considerably between the different
sites. The reason for the limited success of the implementation of LLM in the northern Napcod pilot area is most
likely due to the lack of back stopping and support. Furthermore there was no support from extension services in the
area after Napcod came to an end.
2.1.4 Contribution to the overall DMP project goal and objectives
The application of the LLM tool by the communities will contribute to the specific objective of developing and
implementing strategies for conservation, restoration and sustainable use of dryland biodiversity (Output 2) through
capacity building.
2.1.5 Projected potential impact
The projected potential impact of this tool is to manage the environment and the natural resources in a sustainable
manner. Implementing this technology will also support farmers to make pro-active decisions in order to reduce
their vulnerability to drought and seasonal variability in rainfall. In general it seems that farmers prefer to carry out
monitoring of rainfall and assess the condition of livestock instead of assessing rangeland condition or fodder
availability.
2.2 The Forum for Integrated Resource Management (FIRM)
The Forum for Integrated Resource Management (FIRM) can best be described as an approach to ensure that rural
farmers living on communally managed farmlands are in charge of their own development. It involves a community
based organization (CBO) of rural farmers taking the lead in organizing, planning and monitoring their own
activities and development actions while coordinating the interventions of their service providers. These varied
service providers may take the form of traditional authorities, government or private extension services, non
governmental organizations (NGOs), other CBOs with short or long term projects.
2.2.1 The basis of the technology’s success
The key element of the FIRM approach is the collaborative planning, implementation and monitoring process led by
the CBO representing the community involved. This usually takes the form of an annual meeting to which all CBO
members and associated service providers are invited. During this facilitated meeting, the goals and objectives of the
community are reviewed and reaffirmed or revised. Results obtained from formal or informal monitoring of the
previous year’s plans and activities are then thoroughly discussed and lessons learnt are extracted. This analysis
serves as the basis for the next, key step of the annual meeting, operational planning for the coming year. During this
process, the various service providers commit themselves to providing specific support to the community based
organization on the community’s own agreed-upon objectives. This approach ensures that the services provided by
mandated service providers and project partners are in line with the needs and wishes of the CBO and the greater
community.
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