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

Scaling out of agricultural technologies: This ongoing piece of work uses qualitative and quantitative
approaches using formal and informal surveys to cover key issues on gender and health along with adoption and
adaptation of crop varieties and management practices, soil fertility enhancement, soil and water management
and conservation, institutional arrangements and access to information and to input and output markets. A paper
on HIV/AIDS and gender mainstreaming was presented in the CPWFP1 inception workshop in Polokwane,
South Africa.
1E.5. Searching for appropriate institutional arrangements for common watershed management in the semiarid
tropics in India
In the present student research the main question is “Which institutional alternatives enable a successful
implementation of watershed projects in villages in the semi-arid tropics?” A watershed implementation is seen
as successful if: 1) villagers appreciate the implementation process; 2) villagers received some direct or indirect
benefits; 3) the watershed community organizations founded during the implementation process will sustain
even when the implementation process will be completed.
According to the theoretical framework it is argued that the main reasons for the lack of success in watershed
projects are coordination failures between local actors/appropriators (collective action problems). To overcome
such coordination failures three different institutional alternatives are discussed: a) the market approach; b) the
central government c) community governance.
In the course of the research project three watershed villages, Dokur, Sripuram and Zainallypuram, in the
Mahaboobnagar district were analyzed to understand the impact the three above mentioned institutional
alternatives had on the success of the watershed implementation process in the concerning villages. For the data
collection 137 household interviews, 8 key-person interviews and 3 focus group meetings were conducted.
Collaborating Institutions and Scientists:
Leibniz-Institute for Agriculture development in
Central Germany and Eastern Europe (IAMO), Halle : Andreas Gramzow, Martin Petrick, Gertrud
Buchervieder
ICRISAT: KPC Rao, MCS Bantilan
Funding : H.Wilhelm-Schaumann- Foundation, Hamburg, Germany.
1E.6. Collective action and property rights for poverty reduction in watersheds
Collective action (CA) lowers the transaction costs for the farmers in the rural areas. It enables them to make
investments to improve both the private and common property resources, which is otherwise a costly affair. But,
the property rights to both privately and commonly held resources need to be well defined and respected. While
some communities/societies engage in CA successfully and benefit from such activities, others fail. This study
makes at attempt to (a) conceptualize and measure CA for watershed management in India, and (b) identify the
determinants of successful CA.
Methodology: Eighty-seven watersheds were randomly selected from six districts [representing two from each
of the low (less than 700 mm), medium (700 mm to 900 mm) and high (more than 900 mm) rainfall zones of the
state of Andhra Pradesh in India]. All the sample watersheds were implemented following the 1994 guidelines
for watershed development. Data were collected at the community level from leaders, user groups and key
informants on a range of issues that characterized the village and the watershed groups.
The main hypothesis of this study is that, the level to which communities can act collectively varies. The
primary data of the proxies was collected. Different variables representing CA were aggregated. The scoring
coefficient was obtained through the principal component factor analysis.
Conclusions: A huge variation of the capacities to engage in CA exists among the sample watersheds. The
following are a few factors, which explain the variation:
High levels of CA exist among the experienced groups. The finding supports the hypothesis that individuals of
the group develop trust and are more forthcoming to participate in CA irrespective of the kind of goal pursued.
28