Growing the Wealth of the Poor - World Resources Institute

16importance of an enabling environment of natural resourcepolicy, access to finance, and good communication. The centralrole of social capital—the web of social networks and relationshipsthat pervade society—in developing successful ruralenterprise is also explored, as well as the relationship of naturebasedenterprise to “community-driven development” (CDD)—aparticipatory model of development that devolves decisionmakingand financial power to local bodies. The chapter endsby considering the potential for a “resilience dividend” whenindividuals and communities successfully undertake sustainablenature-based enterprises.Enterprise and GovernanceAny model of nature-based enterprise for the poor must wrestlewith the fundamental power imbalance that the poor face wherenatural resources are concerned. For years the poor have beenrelegated to low-level enterprises and subsistence use of nature,while others have been empowered with access to high-valueresources, granted subsidies to develop extractive industries,given favorable tax and regulatory treatment, and permitted todominate natural resource markets. In other words, wealth iscontinuously extracted from nature—but not by the poor. Theyhave been excluded from nature’s wealth not principally becausethey lack the business acumen to compete but because theresource rights and market access they need to go beyond subsistenceuse of ecosystems have been granted to others throughstate policies (Larson and Ribot 2007:189–191). Successfulnature-based enterprises of the poor will not arise—and thosethat arise will not scale up—without addressing these basicgovernance challenges.The Need for Authority and AccessCBNRM can only provide a route for the rural poor to tapnature’s wealth if the poor are given sufficient authority overresources and access to markets, technology, and other factorsthey need to translate their resource management efforts intobenefits, monetary or otherwise. We have emphasized theconcept of ownership and associated it with secure resourcerights and inclusive participation in management and enterprisedecision-making. While these are essential, they alone are notsufficient. Poor individuals and groups may be granted resourcetenure but lack effective ways to enter the market chains forfarm, fish, or forest products. They may lack critical inputs, suchas technologies or fertilizers, or lack energy or road infrastructure.They often will lack finance, making productive investmentin the resource more difficult. And they will almost certainly besubject to licensing requirements and other regulations thatplace restrictions on how they can exercise their resource rights.These common obstacles translate into a lack of true accessto nature’s wealth. Real access here is more than just physicalaccess to the resource. It encompasses a bundle of powers thatincludes the ability to tap new technology, gain state support,obtain financing, and negotiate the regulatory and tax systemsthat the state uses to control resource markets through licenses,quotas, fees, and levies (Ribot and Peluso 2003:161–170).Honduras provides a good example of the difficulty that thepoor often have in acquiring not only the rights to use andmanage resources but also the access they need to markets andto a competitive business regulatory environment so that theycan conduct successful enterprises. Although in law theHonduran government recognizes the rights of indigenouspeoples to their traditional lands, in practice indigenous peopleshave found it very difficult to establish legal title to these lands.Indeed, their use rights over forest resources are restricted tonon-timber forest products, while the government has the rightto grant logging contracts to third parties on indigenous lands