Description
Advancing the argument that property rights are necessary in order to provide motivation for sustainable use of renewable resources and that collective action is sometimes need to act on those motivations, an international group of researchers present 14 articles that explore the connections between those and other factors in developing nations. Chapters examine links between property rights and agricultural technologies, the complexities of the interface between property rights and collective action, and the impacts of collective action on natural resource management. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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International agricultural research is expanding beyond the development of annual crop technologies for individual farms to the development of longer-term natural resource management techniques for entire landscapes. But technologies or practices with a long lag time between investment and returns are unlikely to be adopted by farmers unless they have secure rights to the underlying resources (property rights). Similarly, technologies that span multiple farms are unlikely to be adopted unless neighbors and groups work together (collective action). But little is known about the way property rights and collective action in developing countries mediate the adoption of technologies by farmers and groups. To address this information gap, this volume brings together international experts in economics, sociology, and natural resource management to examine the links among property rights, collective action, and technological change for a variety of technologies across a range of community contexts in the developing world. Authors focus on the reciprocal relationships between community institutions and technologies, the role of property rights in conflicts between crop and livestock production systems, and the way that collective action differs across landscapes. A conceptual framework, methodological approaches, and "best bet"practices are presented to help guide future research.Researchers, policy analysts, and students interested in the links between environmental sustainability, economic growth, equity and poverty alleviation, and technology adoption will benefit from this volume. Contributors: George Arab, Michael Bannister, Regina Birner, Ana Milena de la Cruz, Simeon Ehui, Sarah Gavian, Gustave Gintzburger, María del Pilar Guerrero, Hasantha Gunaweera, Peter Hazell, Khalil Jani, Anna Knox, Nancy McCarthy, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Woudyalew Mulatu, Thomas Nordblom, Onyango Okello, Keijiro Otsuka, John Pender, Frank Place, Jonathan Rae, Helle Munk Ravnborg, Sara J. Scherr, Glenn R. Smucker, Brent Swallow, Kimberly A. Swallow, Jon D. Unruh, Justine Wangila, Olaf Westermann, and T. Anderson White.
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