Andrew Dougill & Mark Reed

School of the Environment, University of Leeds

Framework for Community-Based Degradation Assessment for the Kalahari,

Botswana

Research Context: Natural Resource Use Issues in Kalahari

Kalahari has moved to a livestock-dominated system with commercialisation and fencing of rangelands

Contested views on extent of rangeland degradation due to different assessment approaches (e.g. soil degradation, ecological change, remote sensing, economic, and social)

Community empowerment increased by need for water user groups to maintain boreholes & policy support for fencing communal rangelands

Research Context: International and Policy Context

UNCCD stresses the importance of community-action, through the development of “integrated sets of physical, biological, social and economic indicators … (which are) pertinent, quantifiable and readily verifiable” (UN 1994, Article 8d)

Community assessments of land degradation more widely used for arable systems (e.g. Stocking and Murnaghan, 2001) than for pastoral rangelands

Botswanan Ministry of Agriculture supporting aUNEP project (IVP) to develop participatory range monitoring & management tools to conserve biodiversity & rehabilitate degraded rangelands

Sustainability Indicators

Dual demands on environmental sustainability indicators -

1. To empower communities they must be simple, rapid & inexpensive, as well as credible, transferable, dependable & confirmable (Pretty, 2001)

2. To link to environmental debates & to gain policy-maker acceptance they must be accurate & reliable

No accepted framework for participatory identification, evaluation, selection and quantification of sustainability indicators

Research Aims

To develop and test a methodological framework for community assessment of rangeland degradation indicators & sustainable management options

To apply this framework to 3 IVP study locations across Botswana

To discuss the potential for such methods to be used in future national assessments of rangeland degradation

Research Setting

Methodological framework for participatory indicator development

Semi-structured interviews

Oral Histories

Focus Groups

Matrix Ranking

Particip-atory Mapping

Ecological sampling

Research Findings - Southern Kgalagadi District

Framework successfully applied to derive “accurate & reliable” degradation indicators (Reed & Dougill, 2002)

Different indicators accepted by different groups - Commercial & communal farmers use different assessment approaches

Process-based indicators (e.g. early loss of palatable grasses &/or poor livestock health) recognised by local experts & essential to offering improved management advice

Integration into a range assessment guide complete & to be applied by extension workers to examine adoption rates & management impacts

Research Findings - Use of Framework at IVP Mid-Boteti Study Site

Framework used to train team of IVP and Ministry of Agriculture staff in participatory & ecological methods (during 17 day site visit) to enable application to other IVP study sites

Difficulties caused by complex interactions of drought, dessication, disease & degradation that makes the latter difficult for communities to identify

Key informants (“farmer experts”) critical to provision of locally applicable list of degradation indicators & associated management options

Similar issues of bush encroachment prevalent in this Mopane woodland area, whilst floodplain grassland zone resilient with access key to future sustainability

Research Findings - Use of Framework at IVP SW Kgalagadi Study Site

A region widely perceived as degradation ‘hotspot’, yet communities views focus on drought & dessication rather than degradation, due in part to Govt drought relief programmes

Do recognise decline in biodiversity that will reduce fodder diversity & livelihood options, however limited changes to NR management practices

Remaining Questions / Research Issues

Broad differences in degradation indicators provided show that although methodological framework is transferable, different indicators needed for different land uses & ecological settings

Time & labour intensive method of degradation assessment

Does research both inform & empower communities to move towards sustainable rangeland management?

Issues of adoption & management adaptations need further study, in relation to local community institutions & extension services

National and international scale (e.g. FAO’s LADA project) assessments will require integration of community monitoring with larger-scale environmental measures

Follow on national project to build on IVP project studies