Aquatic agricultural systems in developing countries face increasing competition from multiple stakeholders operating from local to national and regional scales over rights to access and use natural resourcesùland, water, wetlands, and fisheriesùessential to rural livelihoods. A key...

The Barotse floodplain is an ecosystem characterized by a paradox of widespread poverty amidst high ecological and agricultural potential. The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) seeks to address this paradox on the assumption that the rural poor have the potential to...

In late 2012, a governance assessment was carried out as part of the diagnosis phase of rollout of the CGIAR Aquatic Agricultural Systems Program in Malaita Hub in Solomon Islands. The purpose of the assessment was to identify and provide a basic understanding of essential aspects of governance...

In many countries, resource conflict is a leading risk to livelihoods. For some communities, it is a matter of survival. Yet, many development interventions aiming to address these challenges fail or fall far short of their potential. Common reasons include conflicting agendas, power and...

Cambodia’s recent freshwater fishery sector reform, instigated at the top level of government, is one of the country’s most significant contemporary policy developments addressing natural resources management and rural development. Implemented in two main waves, the reforms...

Conflict management is an intrinsic element of natural resource management, and becomes increasingly important amid growing pressure on natural resources from local uses, as well as from external drivers such as climate change and international investment. If policymakers and practitioners aim...

Where natural resources are a key component of the rural economy, the ability of the poor to realize their visions for the future depends significantly on institutional structures that govern resource access and management. This case study reports on an initiative on the shores of Lake Kariba in...

This Guidance Note presents a simple approach to analyzing the governance context for development of aquatic agricultural systems; it is intended as an aid to action research, and a contribution to effective program planning and evaluation. It provides a brief introduction to the value of...

The papers in this volume were initially prepared for a workshop organized in April 2001 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, under the auspices of the project, " Legal and institutional framework and economic valuation of resources and environment in the Mekong River Region- a wetlands approach." The first...