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Focus
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Framework for Integrated Natural Resources Management |
Richard
J. Thomas
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 In many dry areas, current water extraction rates far exceed sustainable levels. |
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Since 1998, ICARDA has been developing a more holistic approach to natural resources management, and working with other CGIAR centers to develop a conceptual and operational framework for Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM). This is a broader perspective, and takes full account of interactions and synergies between biological processes, government policies, and economic and cultural factors. It breaks down disciplinary barriers. Soil scientists who measured nutrient levels, and economists who measured household incomes, now work together more closely; and this integration provides a better understanding of a large and complex system.
INRM is "a conscious process of incorporating the multiple aspects of natural resource use into a system of sustainable management to meet the production goals of farmers and other direct users (food security, profitability, risk aversion) as well as the goals of the wider community (poverty alleviation, welfare of future generations, environmental conservation)".
The goal is to improve livelihoods, system resilience, system productivity, and environmental services. We aim to reach this goal via a three-step process. First, decide what type of science to do where: what don't we know, which geographical areas are most vulnerable. Then commit ourselves to a learning approach: establish a system for researchers and their partners to adapt and learn.
Finally, and most difficult, re-organize the research system (even the way researchers think about management of natural resources) to effectively address development problems. This could include new incentive systems to encourage cross-disciplinary work; better management of information, both modern and indigenous; wider use of information and communication technologies – such as farmers using cell phones for marketing. These three steps could be in sequence, but more often proceed in parallel.
The learning approach
Individual and social learning is key, particularly in complex multi-actor systems. Researchers need to be more involved in solving ‘real’ problems and become a part of the social learning process. The community must learn too, participating fully at every stage from problem identification to testing solutions and monitoring results. Research and development must move closer to each other, eventually becoming indistinguishable.
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Management of grazing areas is a key part of INRM. |
The intervention must aim to improve the capacity of the system (land, people, natural resources) to ensure a flow of products and environmental services. To do this, we must provide land users with tools and methods to increase their capacity to adapt to changing conditions. Monitoring and evaluation must be done at the local level using simple, cheap tools. This will enable the community to see what is happening to their environment and allow them to take remedial and preventive actions.
No simple answersh
NRM problems are complex. Often there is no single correct answer, but a range of options, each suited to the aspirations of a different group, and which sometimes may be in conflict. Therefore, the emphasis is on co-management with compromises, and on balancing "hard" versus "soft" science, i.e. the contrasting approaches of, say, plant breeders and sociologists. All this requires considerable analysis of biophysical processes as well as institutional and organizational issues at various levels: government policy, local customs, presence or absence of farmer groups and social networks, availability of credit.
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Flash floods are common in many dry areas, and cause severe and rapid erosion. |
To make sense of this complexity, we need to use a systems approach that takes various factors into account. But we also need to identify the main driving factors, which are usually only 3 to 5. This will require new forms of integrative science using modern tools such as simulation models and geographic information systems, to spatially characterize and visualize problems.
The INRM framework
To move INRM from concept to practice, an operational framework was built. Hundreds of experts were asked to identify, in hindsight, exactly why their previous NRM projects had succeeded or failed. Their answers helped develop the framework, which identifies 11 cornerstones, or prerequisites for success (see box), grouped under three broad categories:
Working together
Build effective partnerships around a shared vision. Form cross-disciplinary teams that will identify the main driving variables or key limiting factors. Ensure that team leaders have the special skills (facilitation, negotiation) needed to hold a diverse team together.
Establishing an institutional and organizational framework
‘Mainstream’ the issue of land degradation – ensure it gets the attention it deserves, from the local community, from administrators, and from national policy makers. Mobilize communities and local organizations to develop their own solutions, and to get their opinions heard.
Improving approaches to the task
Learn by doing. The key is an iterative learning, monitoring and evaluation process that involves all the main actors. Ensure that information on technical, institutional, market and policy options is available, so that interventions are better designed and targeted, and yield quicker results.
Scaling out
ICARDA has been implementing the INRM approach to combat land degradation in the marginal drylands of West Asia and North Africa. Our objective was not simply to study degradation, but to establish institutional and policy mechanisms to improve dryland management.
In Syria's Khanasser Valley, a multi-disciplinary team of over 20 scientists works with communities, government extension officers and NGOs. A range of nine technology options have been tested with land users. Simultaneously, we analyzed institutional and policy options suitable for Syria's marginal drylands. The findings were presented to government departments.
The project is currently being scaled out with national programs in Morocco and Iran. Building on past experience, we are identifying appropriate technologies and institutional and policy options, quantifying trade-offs, and building national/ community capacity to ensure that skills as well as institutional structures are in place to disseminate, absorb, and effectively use the new options.
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cornerstones of INRM This framework of 11 cornerstones is a useful guideline for designing INRM projects. In a given system or intervention, it can help identify which specific area or cornerstone needs strengthening. It can help reduce the complexity of the system under study, identify gaps in knowledge, identify project partners and their roles, and provide a check-list for monitoring progress. This framework does not provide instant recipe-type solutions to NRM problems; but it does provide a starting point. INRM projects can begin by devising their own teams, elements and strategies, using the cornerstones as checklists, and putting in a strong monitoring and evaluation system.  |
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| Dr Richard Thomas (r.thomas@cgiar.org) is Director of ICARDA’s Megaproject on Improving Land Management to Combat Desertification. |
© 2008 International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
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