Community-based natural resource management - International ...

Targeting learning
A key IFAD product
The case studies presented in this publication demonstrate
innovative ways of developing and managing natural resources for
the benefit of rural poor people. These are important messages for
others undertaking similar work. But messages alone are not enough.
The case studies reveal much about learning as an integral part of the
development process – about how to get the messages heard, acted
upon and disseminated for others to use. They provide insights into
the learning process so that those planning for the future can learn to
learn from past experience.
Learning to learn
Learning by doing
This is widely accepted as the most effective way of learning. However, it is a
process and not a blue-print. It is learning step-by-step, with each new step based
on the knowledge and experience gained from the previous ones.
Madagascar is a good example of this approach. The country’s rural-land-tenure
administrative system was developed gradually over a ten-year period in parallel
with three IFAD-funded programmes and a grant project, each with a focus on rural
land-tenure issues. Each project contributed valuable knowledge and experiences to
the next – and to the process of empowering rural poor people.
The Gambia also benefited from this process – the “land for labour” initiative
evolved as the programme was implemented. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
as well, is gradually learning to deal with persistent poverty in semi-arid areas as
people engage with both natural resources management and the social and
economic issues affecting poor people.
A similar process occurred in the United Republic of Tanzania, where the
approach to developing smallholder irrigation schemes slowly changed from topdown
to a more successful grass-roots approach in which farmers participated in
the development process.
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