Social Capital
It is clear that human influence and socioeconomic factors have a decisive impact on livestock production. An appreciation of the social and community environment into which technologies are being considered are fundamental to the successful adoption of new technologies. In many programs focus has been placed upon technological fixes as opposed to the underlying social and policy issues that are often the principal cause of inefficient resources allocation and poverty. Policy debates are often preoccupied with technological or macro-economic issues, failing to countenance the needs and desires of individuals and communities. Development practitioners must understand the dynamics of the existing social, political and legal systems. Livestock development includes not only the development of significant human and infrastructure capital but also an understanding of the potentially uses of, and development of, social capital.
Social capital, as with other forms of capital (physical, financial and human), will influence the level of production, productivity, efficiency and the equitable and sustainable use of resources. High levels of social capital can provide individual communities or regions with a comparative advantage in the production of goods and services. As with other forms of capital, communities can accrue or develop social capital, over-use can lead to a depreciation of its value while efficient use can lead to social capital growth. Social capital is increasingly being regarded as an important factor influencing the development of rural communities in developing countries.
ILRIC can provide significant expertise that can ensure social and community capital is included as a fundamental part of the livestock industry development process. ILRIC has practical experience in developing partnerships with all levels of stakeholders (individual smallholders through to national government departments). Within ILRIC there is experience working with communities within Australia and developing countries to:
- Measure social capital (using formal and in-formal surveying techniques).
- Identify individual and social constraints to livestock development.
- Develop and work with community frameworks/ institutions to ensure stakeholder partnership and ownership and, with partner communities develop sustainable, innovative livestock production systems.
Community Based Decision Making
The process of ensuring social factors are included in project/ program planning, implementation and evaluation processes requires considerable expertise in working with communities. Livestock industry development will be influenced by the desire and ability of stakeholders, in particular livestock owners, to adopt different technologies and production processes. Individuals and communities must not only be consulted throughout the process but must also attain ownership of the process in order to maximise the chances of sustainable development. ILRIC can access significant capability and experience in working with communities in developing countries. There is experience in community consultation throughout all levels of the development process; from project/program identification to implementation and evaluation. At the program or sector level there are skills available that can:
- Facilitate the formulation and management of appropriate agricultural development strategies.
- Identify the socioeconomic and demographic profiles of
participating communities. - Identify design principles for successful large-scale rural
development programs. - Contribute to community capacity building.
- Identify and overcome the potential constraints to
the adoption of new technologies or processes. These
constraints include land tenure, access to capital
infrastructure and services, education and health issues. - Educate and train stakeholders in community
development skills.
When designing projects and programs there are particular skills required which will maximise the potential for sustainable benefits to accrue to the targeted stakeholders. Planning, consultation, monitoring and evaluation of community and social factors are required to ensure this occurs. The process begins by undertaking community needs analysis and stakeholder identification with particular consideration of women, the poor and minority groups. The development of priorities will involve a range of skills including focus groups, workshops, semi-structured interviews, questionnaire surveys. As well as these skills ILRIC has the experience to:
- Develop the perception of community project ownership to assist in ensuring long term sustainability.
- Survey community and agency attitudes towards, and intentions to comply with, community-developed plans.
- Design and evaluate cost-sharing arrangements.
- Investigate the factors contributing to human and social capital and monitor the social impacts of a project.
- Undertake benefit-cost appraisal of projects and programs including risk analysis and inclusion of environmental, social, political and economic criteria.
- Identify key concerns (eg land tenure, equity and resource access issues) and ensure community-based solutions.
- Assess and design of institutional capacity to monitor and ensure program success.
ILRIC offers a range of experts with skills in the design of ecosystem and market frameworks using participatory and consultative mechanisms. An integrated approach that takes account of the interplay of economic, social and environmental factors will facilitate the long term success of livestock projects. The participation of intended project beneficiaries in formulation and implementation at the community level (as opposed to centrally decided outcomes) will ensure community aspirations and needs are adequately met.
Sustainable Resource Management
Sustaining welfare growth while maintaining the resource base for future generations is a key challenge facing livestock sector development. In many countries the sustained growth of livestock industries is threatened by ongoing degradation of the resource base. Reversing environmental degradation is fundamental to the alleviation of rural poverty expressing a crucial link between sustainable resource management and local rural development. For these purposes ILRIC commands extensive expertise in the design of holistic sustainable resource management frameworks. This includes:
- Assessment of the appropriateness of agricultural production systems in relation to sustainable natural resource management.
- The use and development of community-based frameworks for the achievement of sustainable natural resource frameworks and the formulation of community based solutions to resource management issues.
- The development of local, regional and national conservation strategies and policies for the maintenance of biodiversity through integrated natural resource management.
- Identification of the primary causes of natural resource decline associated with a project and addressing the root causes of biodiversity loss.
- Quantifying biodiversity and the development of baseline indicators.
- Meeting of requirements under relevant Environmental Impact Assessment legislation, including community participation, risk analysis, mitigation and monitoring.
- The mitigation of the processes of land degradation including soil erosion and compaction, salinity, water and soil contamination.
- The rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems.
As smallholders are often the most dependent upon scarce resources for their livelihoods, a reduction in poverty is often associated with a reduction in environmental degradation. Noting the nexus between local development and the sustainable management of resources, ILRIC promotes community-based resource management through the adoption of an integrated approach that optimises the ecological, social and economic benefits of interventions aimed at restoring or mitigating impacts upon ecosystem structure and function.
