Theme 4: Socioeconomics and Policy
Project 4.1: Socioeconomics of Natural Resources Management in Dry Areas
Goal: Conservation and sustainable use of the natural resource base for improving the welfare of people both in current and future generations.
Indicator: Increased use of natural resource conservation practices.

Purpose: Analysis of the social, institutional and economic factors that influence resource management and a greater understanding of resource users' perceptions and objectives that will assist in the design of proposed technical interventions and reveal where opportunities may exist for community action and cooperative management of resources.
Indicator: Utilization of formal methods of natural resource and environmental valuation, and institutional options for supporting resource management decisions at farm, community and national levels.
Increased utilization of these methods by NARS.
Increased public awareness of the costs involved in the mismanagement of natural resources, in terms of local livelihoods, national agricultural sustainability and the global environment.

Output 1: Market and non-market valuation of natural resources and estimation of the economic and social costs of their degradation.
Indicators: Decision tools for sustainable natural resources management that take into consideration the environmental impact of agricultural practices.
Milestones:
2003:
Economic analysis of water management options in Kyrgyzstan completed.
  2004: Analysis of social and economic benefits of marginal water use in agriculture in Kazakhstan (MSc. thesis) completed.
Economic analysis of the land use options and conservation practices of mountain terraces in Yemen completed.

Output 2: Economic assessment of the environmental impact of resource management strategies.
Indicators: Methods for the valuation of natural resources and the costs associated with their degradation developed and transferred to NARS in conjunction with other Projects involved.
Milestones:
2003:
Bio-economic modeling of the land use options in the Khanasser valley integrated research site in Syria completed.
Economic modeling of micro-dams in the Barani area of Punjab province, Pakistan, completed.
 
2004:
Decision support tool for land use developed.

Output 3: Socioeconomic evaluation of potential resource management options.
  Indicators: Factors in the broader socioeconomic environment that influence individuals' resource management decisions identified, including the socio-cultural organization of communities.
  Milestones:
  2003: Characterization of resource users perceptions and attitudes towards resource use, associated institutional factors and natural resource conservation technologies completed in Barani area of Pakistan.
  2004: Characterization of resource users perceptions and attitudes towards resource use, associated institutional factors and natural resource conservation technologies completed in Kyrgyzstan.
  2005: Characterization of resource users perceptions and attitudes towards resource use, associated institutional factors and natural resource conservation technologies completed in Egypt.

  Output 4: Institutionalized multidisciplinary and participatory approaches to natural resource management research in national systems.
  Indicators: Users' perceptions and valuations of their resource base, which contribute to decisions regarding resource management practices determined.
  Milestones:
  2003: Farmers' participation in testing new income generating and land conserving practices in mountains of Yemen evaluated.
Guidelines on participatory NRM research developed and provided to NARS.
  2004: Results of participatory NRM research transferred to all stakeholders (farmers, researchers, extensionists, NGOs and policy decision-makers) through workshops and seminars.
Adoption and impact of improved water management technology in selected CWANA countries assessed.

  Output 5: Knowledge of NARS social scientists on the socio-economic research in NRM enhanced.
  Indicators: Increased social science research capacity on NRM within CWANA NARS
  Milestones:
  Anually: On-the-job individual training and training workshops.

Duration: 3 years.

  Users and beneficiaries:
Immediate users of the valuation of natural resources and the social and economic costs of their degradation are ICARDA researchers in natural resource management, and national planners and decision-makers. Because of the problem-solving, participatory approach employed, the immediate beneficiaries are the resource users involved in the case studies. The approaches and methodologies developed in these studies will be disseminated for use by NARS and other researchers in natural resource management.

  Collaborators:
 
  • NARS partners include the following institutes: Morocco: Centre Regional de Recherche Agricole/ INRA. Algeria: Institut Technique des Grandes Cultures; Haute Commission de Developement de la Steppe. Tunisia: INRAT; Institute des Hautes Etudes Commerciales; Institute des Regions Arides (IRA). Iraq: IPA Agricultural Research Center; Jordan: University of Jordan; National Center for Agricultural and Technology Transfer. Lebanon: Lebanese University; American University of Beirut; Agricultural Research Institute. Syria: University of Aleppo. Yemen: Aden University; Agriculture Research and Extension Authority. Pakistan: Water Resources Research Institute, Authority of Barani Agricultural Development (ABAD). NARS of Central Asia.
  • Christian Albrecht University, Kiel, Germany; Systemwide Programme on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (SP-PRGA) convened by CIAT.
  Cost:

 
  2003 US$ 0.518 Million
  2004 US$ 0.549 Million
  2005 US$ 0.571 Million

  System Linkages: 

  Output 2 Germplasm collection: 80 %
Output 3 Sustainable Production: 10%
Output 5 Enhancing NARS: 10%
  Linkage with the two Systemwide Programmes: Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (SP-PRGA) convened by CIAT, and Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi) coordinated by IFPRI.

  Financing Plan:
  Unrestricted core funds. Restricted funding from Spain; collaboration with NARS in Egypt supported by EC; grant for participatory research in natural resource management in Yemen from IDRC; cooperation in Pakistan supported by Barani Village Development Project; restricted program funding from BMZ. Anticipated funding from Asian Development Bank for activities in Central Asia.
     
  Theme 3,Project 3.1