Community-based natural resource management - International ...

Almost half the cooperatives are now performing well and are self-funding, while the rest
are still in need of support. Nevertheless, cooperatives have fostered a new dynamism in
rangeland management by coordinating service provision, marketing produce and
controlling grazing. They have been particularly effective in empowering marginal pastoral
communities – through the development of rules that control membership and access to
resources – and in providing an effective vehicle for expressing views and identifying needs.
Some lessons
• Cooperatives formed along ethnic or tribal lines can be inserted into existing socioinstitutional
systems to foster collective action and sustainable resource management.
Their success and sustainability require appropriate technologies and relevant
institutional and policy frameworks.
• Granting local communities common property, full managerial roles and the possibility
of delimiting and registering land are important preconditions for the successful and
participatory implementation of projects.
• Empowerment and further democratization of community-based local institutions will
ensure that poor people are not marginalized to the benefit of rich, influential livestock
herders. These factors include access to improved grazing areas and cooperative services.
• Compensation was an essential complement to range improvements such as resting
and reseeding, but proved difficult to set up and manage effectively.
• Protecting rangeland areas designated for rehabilitation and controlling access to
improved range areas should be planned at an early stage. Attention must also be
devoted to the pricing of services and resources by cooperatives to ensure the
sustainability of activities and investments.
• A legal framework, formulated through the participation of all stakeholders, is
essential if cooperatives are to function effectively, take full responsibility for land
registration, and grant common property and management roles to tribal institutions.
• Government institutions still have an important role, providing leadership for projects,
technical support services, research and development and advice on technical issues.
Next steps
For further information
Livestock and Rangelands Development
Project in the Eastern Region – Phase I
and Phase II (1991-2001 and 2004-2010)
Mounif Nourallah
Country Programme Manager
Near East and North Africa Division
Programme Management Department,
IFAD
Via del Serafico, 107
00142 Rome, Italy
Tel.: +39 06 54592367
E-mail: m.nourallah@ifad.org
The project has now entered the second phase, which is designed to consolidate the
achievements of the first, and users’ cooperatives are achieving national impact.
However, even though all new rangeland development processes use the communitybased
approach, the Government has yet to consolidate these gains in its policy and
institutional frameworks. Many pastoral cooperatives still need the support of
government administrative and technical organizations.
IFAD is also supporting these community-based approaches in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Tunisia.
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