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AUTHORS ABSTRACT Grants provided by SDC and IDRC for the development of participatory research activities at research sites located in San Dionisio, Matagalpa, Nicaragua; Yorito, Yoro, Honduras and Cabuyal, Cauca, Colombia, led to the design and application of a series of Decision Support Tools (DSTs) geared to inform decision-making processes at the local level. A participatory analysis of problems and opportunities for watershed management was the entry point for the development of tools. Community organizations, NGOs, governmental programme officers and universities actively participated in a needs assessment that, in turn, shaped CIAT's research agenda. Stakeholder analysis and problem prioritization led to the identification of a lack of decision support methodologies for use by local, regional and national actors in natural resource management decision-taking. Research activities were geared to the design of Decision Support Tools (DSTs), the preparation of training materials to present the tools, and the training of three national teams of trainers to disseminate them. Participants whilst in training formulated "action plans" for the application of the DSTs in their own work environments. A methodology to monitor and evaluate these action plans was applied through visits to the sites where the tools were being applied. CIAT provided financial support to some of the most promising action plans. New developments at institutional level demonstrated that the DSTs were looked upon as useful methods and instruments among technical personnel in NRM activities. DSTs presented to East African institutions have led the way in the production of new versions of some of them, and to their application in current research and development programmes. It is estimated that in 2003 nearly fifty local communities are being introduced to the application of DSTs by means of a trained technical force and three trainers' teams. The DSTs are now part of development projects in nine departments of Nicaragua and seven in Honduras. Recently, the five most popular DSTs were packaged in a CD for wider distribution, and are now available at CIAT, in Spanish, upon request. LEAD CENTRE AND KEY PARTNERS International Centre for Tropical Agriculture - CIAT Colombia: CORPOCUENCAS. CIPASLA, ECOFUTURO, CORPOICA, ACUAVALLE Honduras: UNA, WORLD VISION, CARE, ESNACIFOR, CASM, CLODEST Nicaragua: UNA, TROPISEC, UCA, UNAN - Matagalpa, CEPRODEL, UCOSD, CIEETS, ENACAL, WV. Participatory research conducted by CIAT over seven years in Central America, Colombia and Peru, led to the design and application of decision support tools (DSTs) to inform decision-making processes for adaptive management of natural resources at the local level. Research was conducted in four reference sites: Yorito, Yoro, Honduras; San Dionisio, Matagalpa, Nicaragua; Pucallpa, Perú and Cauca, Colombia. The decision-support tools were developed hands-on with users, (i.e., farmers and development practitioners), to provide methods that stakeholders could apply in the decision-making processes they perceived to be most problematic or to present the best opportunity. Downstream agriculture, urban and industrial users face problems of water quality and intermittent flooding as a result of poor management of hillsides. Multiple stakeholders in hillside environments have different and often competing objectives for using the same resource-for example, water. But it is impossible for central policy-making bodies to enforce prescriptive regulations and practices to improve resource management. At the heart of the problems of resource management in the hillsides is the need to engage multiple stakeholders in negotiation, collaborative research and learning to inform adaptive management. Adaptive management of natural resources involves action research and a learning process that builds on stakeholders' capacity to analyse the opportunities to identify and experiment with alternative interventions, and to generate and share knowledge about the outcomes. Typically, adaptive management outcomes are not fully understood by all the stakeholders when interventions are initiated. Thus, stakeholders need ways to systematize and share learning throughout a process that begins by contributing their knowledge to technology design, continues with an "appropriation process" of new ways to understand and face the decision-making process, and finally, constitutes a part of their NRM methodologies to deal with the environment. Research teams located at the reference sites are composed of an average of five scientists, including one or more from CIAT, others from the relevant national agricultural research and development (NARD) institutions, and an equal number of technical personnel. These teams have established a network of partners and collaborators at the national, regional and local levels, to participate in the needs identification of communities living around selected watersheds. |
Farmer and community involvement
The most difficult challenge facing applied research aiming to improve adaptive management of hillside resources remains the problem of how to conduct research in a way that the results are actually used in stakeholder decision-making. Research and technology developed in isolation from stakeholders and end users remains "on the shelf". This is illustrated by the vast body of knowledge about soil erosion control technologies based on decades of research which is nonetheless, largely ignored or rejected by hillside stakeholders unless compelled by law or bribed by subsidies. Indeed most poor people in tropical hillsides do not perceive soil erosion as a priority. To be relevant, the role of research has to become one of actively seeking to improve stakeholder decision-making. A dynamic, action research approach was needed to identify (a) opportunities for research of importance to stakeholders (b) the minimum data required to enable adaptive management, and (c) the key indicators for monitoring so that a learning process was put in place.
The challenge was addressed at community and watershed levels combining applied and adaptive research with technology dissemination. In the process, all participants have become stakeholders in promoting an adaptive management approach that emphasizes improving livelihoods as a way to integrate production and natural resource conservation, (Ashby et al. 1998, 1999; Ashby 2000, 2001).
Problem identification and description
When CIAT started research activities on hillside NRM in Colombia, Peru and Central America, several needs assessment activities were conducted. Among them, (a) a selection of research sites (extreme poverty, land degradation, land tenure problems, NRM conflicts, and poor organizational structures) with matching characteristics to many other hillside environments in Latin America and (b) a call made to so called National Consultative Committees to merge the Hillsides Project research agenda with pressing needs and opportunities for NRM. Representatives of farmers' organizations, agriculture sector government officers, university professors, NGOs technical personnel and donors composed these committees. Assessment pointed out many needs and opportunities awaiting answers from agricultural research and from other fields. Improved seed and crop management as well as better access to technical information were outstanding. At the national level stakeholders were looking for technologies and methodologies for water management, strengthening of local organizations, commercialization strategies, on-farm seed production and systematization of information. Problems identified by farmers pointed at poorly developed markets, a need to diversify production systems and increase income generation. Deforestation in the upper reaches of the watershed, which caused dry-season water deficits; soil depletion caused by erosion; lack of strong local organizations and very little knowledge about the geophysical and social contexts and interactions occurring within, were also identified as priorities.
A common denominator was the weak decision-taking ability of people. Matching these needs with the Hillsides Project's objectives and CIAT's knowledge in other fields, helped to define priorities in which the project decided to work.
Previous research done by CIAT had contributed to developing strengths in rural agro-enterprise development, small seed enterprise management, GIS, soil management technologies, participatory methodologies, crop management and organizational process development. The researchers' challenge was to develop methodologies that could be locally applied to overcome NRM problems, and at the same time contribute to strengthening the decision-making power of poor hillside communities.
Activities centered on participatory generation of Decision Support Tools, which could enhance the capacity of watershed communities to demand research, investment and technical assistance services in areas that matched our expertise. Preferred scenarios were the watersheds of the Cabuyal river in the department of Cauca, Colombia; the Calico river watershed in the department of Matagalpa, Nicaragua and the Sulaco river watershed in the department of Yoro, Honduras. Varying in size, these small watersheds occupy a territory of between 150 and 200 km2.
Research objectives
The CIAT team pursued four major outputs for its project on hillsides: (a) production systems improved, (b) more sustainable landscapes, (c) organizations strengthened, and (d) decision makers supported.
Adaptive management however, involves more than research. Capacity development is integral to reinforcing and strengthening stakeholders' ability to use DSTs. As a result partners along with researchers engaged in a process that involved: (a) the development and validation of methods and tools for strengthening key organizations, (b) the training of regional and national organizations in the use of methodologies and tools for organizations' management, (c) the strengthening of small-scale producers, managers, and local, regional and national organizations through participatory research methods, (d) the promotion and support of inter-institutional processes and plans for sustainable rural development, (e) the identification at different levels of decision makers related with NRM tasks and diagnosing their needs, (f) the provision of technical support to decision-taking at different levels using the DSTs developed, and (g) the strengthening of the capacity for NRM through the use of tools and methods (train, disseminate and monitor) (CIAT 1999).
Figure 1 shows the sequence of activities, which orientated the research process and which led to the production of the DSTs.
1 In an initial phase, local, governmental, NGO and higher education stakeholders were approached by CIAT to share with them its research focus using the watershed as the unit of analysis. Stakeholders at the reference sites helped in shaping the research agenda. Parallel to this activity, assessments of the status of natural resources at the reference sites were conducted in a participatory fashion with community leaders, key informers and local NGO professionals. This process was documented in publications by Espinosa and Vernooy (1998) and by Vernooy et al. (1998).
2 Natural resource analysis informed researchers of the need to develop methodologies and technological components that could contribute to better decision-making in NRM. Among the biophysical, economic and social areas, the need for methodologies to empower or initiate organizational processes, for landscape analysis, soil management and commercialization processes were the foci for action research.
3 The third step of this process was the adjustment of CIAT's team research agenda, along with the definition of research objectives, products and outputs. At this point, research resources, both human and technical were allocated to the research sites.
4 The following step was the design of the DSTs. Tools came from a variety of knowledge fields but were seen as complementary in nature, and were designed to support decisions such as:
Who to include in a collective action process? (stakeholder analysis tool)
Where to draw boundaries for collective action? (Participatory mapping, a geophysical tool of practical use in ex-ante and ex-post landscape analysis)
How to organize at the watershed scale for collective action? (stakeholder analysis tool)
How to plan for production? (an ex-ante analysis tool for farmers to plan and control production)
What technologies to apply, given local soil conditions? (Identifying local indicators of soil quality tool)
What markets to develop? A tool for identifying market opportunities within a given zone, and in the identification of adequate sites for small enterprise development, such as small seed production plants.
5 Adaptive management with a strong learning process involves a commitment to capacity development. Research partnerships were consolidated through formal agreements and continuous participation. Higher education institutions, government programmes and NGOs accepted to deploy human resources to create facilitators' teams in the three reference countries.
6 Once the draft version of the guides - which included both the tools and the training methodology, was ready, Nicaraguan and Honduran stakeholders validated each of the guides through workshops in which local, regional and national participation was ensured. Validation covered issues such as the applicability of tools in current NRM processes, and the feasibility of their use at the level of facilitators and end users. Later, a validation with donors and other interested parties was conducted in Nicaragua to obtain their perceptions on the relevance of the tools for NRM.
7 Training trainers (facilitators) and training end-users were done through a series of workshops conducted between 1999 and 2002, using printed guides (Appendix 5). Participants prepared action plans during training to apply one or more of the DSTs within their work environments (communities, watersheds, municipalities, universities, etc.). Some of them received institutional support and the facilitators' team monitored them.
FIGURE 1 Model of the INRM research process
Initially, CIAT facilitated all the stages of this process. Researchers, following a didactic blueprint for the design of training modules, actively participated in the development of the guides to present the DSTs. A PhD-level educator and curriculum-design expert coordinated the preparation of the training guides, designed the capacity development strategy, and conducted the initial monitoring phase. Key in-country partners included researchers, NGO field-staff and farmers organized in groups and in community-based associations. CIAT's researchers were the initial training team, but the national teams of trainers soon took over this activity, and now they are being hired by different institutions to provide support to groups interested in the use of DSTs. Institutions such as the National Agricultural University of Nicaragua have adopted the DSTs as a part of their curricula for several professional programmes, and have their own trainers' team.
Results
A series of eight DSTs and an Atlas for NRM were developed (CIAT 1999). These were validated by potential users and packaged in the form of training guides. National teams of trainers were trained by CIAT's staff to apply and deliver these tools. In a first phase nearly 400 individuals from 40 institutions received training and had access to the training materials.
The tools were published in Spanish in the form of teaching kits. In 2003 the five most demanded tools are available in a CD version. Facilitators of learning processes use the tools according to the circumstances and needs of the group or area. The kits are specifically constructed to be adaptable, and sheets with new information can be added when new information is required. Initially CIAT staff used the kits to train future trainers. Eventually the use of the tools will devolve entirely on local organizations.
The DSTs have been designed for:
1 Professionals and technicians in private and public institutions or organizations working on NRM and development projects. They use the guides to support NRM activities at watershed and municipal levels. People trained through this initiative have learned to use the guides and have taken over the dissemination role.
2 Communities of watersheds and micro-watersheds of tropical Latin America. With the help of NGOs and various organizations working locally, people of these areas can use the methods and strategies to actively participate in NRM.
Components
The guides are intended for the end user who will make decisions at the local level. Each guide contains the following:
Flow diagrams - of the whole guide and the different sections for instructors to present the distinct themes.
Guiding questions - to start dialogues and motivate the audience before approaching the theory.
Technical content - to present the theory and steps to be taken in the process described.
Exercises - adaptable to any audience or that can be replaced by problems relevant to the locality.
Feedback sessions - to complement the activities and help evaluate the achievements or objectives.
Annexes - to add depth to aspects treated briefly in the text.
Titles of the guides
1 Identifying and classifying local indicators of soil quality
A participatory method for identifying and classifying local soil quality indicators at the watershed level.
Section 5 Soil fair- Integration in practice
2 Land use tendencies by photo analysis
Phototopographic analysis of land use tendencies in hillsides
Section 2 Chronological analysis of tendencies in land use in hillsides
3 Participatory mapping
Participatory mapping, analysis and monitoring of natural resources in a watershed
Section 4 Identification of micro-watersheds in process of degradation, and their monitoring
4 Stakeholder analysis
Methodology for analysing stakeholder groups for collective management of natural resources in a watershed
Section 3 Identification and discussion of conflicting interests within collective action
5 Identifying levels of well-being
Identifying levels of well being to construct local profiles of rural poverty
Section 6 Validating well-being levels and defining a local profile
6 Making an atlas
Atlas of Yorito and Sulaco, Yoro, (Honduras)
Section 3 Demographic information
7 Identifying market opportunities
Identifying and evaluating market opportunities for small-scale rural producers
Section 4 Design of integrated productive projects
8 Using simulation models
Use of simulation models for ex-ante evaluation
Section 4 Applying linear programming models to ex-ante evaluations
9 Developing organizational processes
Developing organizational processes at local level for collective management of natural resources.
Section 3 Steps in a process of organization at watershed level
By mid 2001 a total of 17 "action plans" had been designed by participating Central American institutions to apply the DSTs, adapting them to their particular needs. Results of an ex-ante evaluation of action plans, conducted in 2001, showed that the DSTs were being introduced into institutional programmes carried out by World Vision, CARE, the Honduran National School of Agriculture, the Honduran Ministry of Natural Resources and the Mennonite Social Action Commission in Honduras as well as in the Nicaraguan National Agrarian University, the Central American University in Nicaragua and CORPOCUENCAS (governmental office in charge of watersheds in the State of Valle del Cauca, Ecofuturo (an environmental NGO) and Acuavalle (the water regulatory system for the State of Valle del Cauca), in Colombia.
Action plans, conducted by people trained in the use of the decision support tools, were initial proof of adoption. Follow up of these plans, now lacking, will provide feed-back to researchers on new needs and opportunities arising from the application of DSTs, and valuable information regarding the impact of DST application in a variety of institutional and community environments
As a part of its capacity development strategy, CIAT conducted several courses at individual institutions outside the direct area of influence of this project. The Center for Agriculture and Forestry Development - CEDAF, in the Dominican Republic, the University La Molina in Lima, Peru and the Venezuelan Fund for Agricultural and Livestock Research - FONAIAP, have sent researchers and extension agents to be trained in the use of the DSTs. This process is rapidly extending as new people are trained in the use of the tools, and new action plans are developed.
During 2003, a second training cycle was completed. The DSTs were presented in CD-ROM format to reach new audiences. Under a Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) grant, a series of seven workshops using the CD were conducted in February and March in Nicaragua and Honduras, and reached 150 individuals and 25 institutions. Participants made written commitments to disseminate the tools in the two countries, incorporating the DSTs in their activities with clients and beneficiaries (Appendices 3 and 4).
In its new framework, CIAT's Communities and Watersheds (C&W) Project has incorporated this tool set in its Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) Strategy, as a subsidiary array of methodologies which can be used by practitioners when carrying out IWM activities.
The incorporation of DSTs in the decision-taking repertoire of community leaders and local organizations is improving the capacity of local communities to make sound decisions about NRM. Several cases have been reported. In western Colombia, ten communities of the municipality of Bolivar, department of Valle del Cauca, received training in the use of the DSTs. As a result, they produced an integrated environmental plan, which was presented to the Municipality for finance. So far, resources have been found for a trash disposal and recycling project, which are now underway (ECOFUTURO 2002).
National watershed management programmes such as those being implemented in several poor countries (i.e., PRONADERS - MARENA in Honduras) with bilateral aid resources, are now integrating the DSTs into their agricultural development strategies to accompany investments and other poverty alleviation measures. Appendices 1 and 2 show the various places where the tools are being utilized today.
Lessons learned and future challenges
Initially, decision-support seemed like a risky undertaking for applied research aiming to benefit poor, rural people in hillside watersheds. However, we discovered that development practitioners in international as well as local NGOs, farmers in community-based organizations and local government officials all expressed a strong and continuing demand for this approach.
Stakeholders helped researchers to identify the loci for collective action in NRM, and were able to contribute their knowledge to build upon scientific evidence. This helped to focus the use of research selectively. It also catalysed a process of blending local knowledge with findings and concepts from scientific research fields as diverse as soils, geography, and organizational behavior and marketing.
Feedback from users shows that DSTs can enhance institutional capacity to fulfil a development role in NRM. For example, in a recent case, ENACAL, (Bosco et al. 2002) the Water Authority for Nicaragua, selected a set of four tools to improve the institutional ability to (a) preserve watershed resources (Participatory natural resource mapping tool), (b) to identify conflicts and conflicting stakeholders in a watershed (Stakeholder analysis for collective watershed management tool), (c) to rationalize fees for water services to different sectors of a community (Local poverty profiles tool), and (d) to enhance the capacity of local water management organizations, (Local organizational processes tool). As a result of this training effort, four action plans are now being implemented, incorporating the tool set into ongoing ENACAL's activities.
Need for follow-up
People who have participated in this experience recognize that a follow up study is required in order to better assess the impacts generated by the application and adaptation of the DSTs. Resources are sought for follow-up activities to be carried out during 2004 to collect information on the impact of the application of the tools at local and regional levels. In the interim, e-mail consultations are being carried out to explore the status of programmes and projects in which the DSTs are being applied. Present perceptions indicate that the use of DSTs in a variety of projects (i.e., as reported by the Mennonite Social Action Commission - Honduras, 2001) have facilitated NRM processes in several poor communities. These cases reveal how the ability to make better decisions has been improved through the use of the DSTs.
Expected eventual areas of impact: south-south scaling-out
With the support of AHI, TSBF and the SWNM programme, the DSTs were translated into English and presented in two subsequent workshops to nearly one hundred professionals from East African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Uganda and Ethiopia.
FIGURE 2 Farmers and technical personnel from the Mennonite Social Action Commission (CASM) - Honduras, carry out a participatory mapping of the intervention area in San Antonio, Azacualpa, Department of Santa Bárbara.
With the financial support of the SWNM programme, a team of five qualified soil specialists developed an East African version of the "Local Indicators of Soil Quality" during 2000. In March 2001, a training for trainers' workshop was carried out in Arusha, Tanzania, where the five authors of the East Africa version of the soils tool were the trainers. After a two-day workshop dedicated to training for trainers' activity, the African authors had an opportunity to train a group of 28 professionals from the countries mentioned above. As a result, two institutional strengthening activities were planned and financed by CIAT and the SWNM program: (a) dissemination of training in the use of this tool among the sixteen convening institutions of the SWNM programme group, and (b) four institutional action plans to apply this tool in Muhesa, Tanga, Arusha and Moshi, Tanzania; in the Nianza province and Usonga, Kenya; and in Awassa, Ethiopia. All throughout this ex-perience, the SWNM programme was per-ceived as a vehicle for the development of the NRM approach.
In a combined effort between CIAT's Participatory Research and the Rural Agro-enterprise Projects, a multidisciplinary strategy was designed for Uganda, Malawi and Tanzania to adapt Latin American experiences in participatory research methods and rural agro-enterprise development. The Belgium government is supporting this five-year initiative. Two workshops in the use of these tools were conducted in 2002-2003, and action plans are well underway in Uganda with collaboration from the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO).
Scaling-out in Central America
Large NGOs such as World Vision and CARE, whose activities extend throughout poor countries, as well as national watershed and natural resource development programmes and universities have been the focus of impact for this strategy. CIAT is in continuous communication with government programmes offering support in the incorporation of the DSTs into their development plans, (PRONADERS in Honduras; INTA in Nicaragua, for example). It has also conducted several specific activities geared to the incorporation of the DSTs into several universities' agricultural sciences curriculum.
FIGURE 3 African facilitators in Arusha, Tanzania, during "the soils fair", oneof the experiences in the Local Indicators of Soil Quality course. Ed Barrios from CIAT-TSBF monitors the experience.
FIGURE 4 Members of a local community in Matagalpa, Nicaragua display the participatory map that will be used during the transect-walk of the micro-watershed.
A critical mass of users is necessary for change to take place. CIAT has been working on building a community of practice that is able to make the best use of the tools at different levels (watershed, municipality, region) and in different decision-making environments (programmes, projects, activities). Reports synthesized in appendices 1 to 4 are doubtlessly indicative of the acceptance the DSTs have received, and that a critical mass building process is taking place.
New tools
As research continues, new tools, methodologies and technologies are expected to emerge and to be added to a global set of tools available to communities and institutions in order to formulate solutions to natural resource management constraints. For example, as a result of the post-Mitch Seeds of Hope Project in Central America, a DST and its corresponding training guide has been developed on Small seed enterprise development (Giraldo 2003). This new tool is being incorporated into CIAT's activities in Haiti and Mexico. On the other hand, CIAT's Land Use Project has completed the design of a Three-dimensional mapping methodology, which brings in user-friendly GIS tools for participatory mapping in watersheds, municipalities and small communities. This is a tool that can also be used as a part of an integrated natural resources management strategy. (Usma et al. 2003). It is CIAT's expectation that its contributions to NRM in hillsides by means of strengthening the local and institutional decision-making capacity, will contribute in part to the building of a paradigm for integrated natural resources management of wide application.
References
Ashby, J.A., Knapp, E.B. and Munk, H. (1998). World Bank symposium in agriculture and the environment: Perspectives in sustainable rural development. Ernest Lutz (Ed). World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Ashby, J.A., Sanz, J.I., Knapp, E.B. and Imbach, A. (1999). CIAT's strategic research on the problems and issues facing hillside environments. Mountain Research and Development 19(3):241-250.
Ashby, J. A. (2000). Community-based watershed management in the tropical hillsides. CIAT, Draft Document.
Ashby, J.A. (2001). Integrating research on food and the environment: an exit strategy from rational food syndrome in agricultral science. Conservation Ecology 5(2):20. URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol15/iss2/art20.
Bosco, J., Beltrán, J.A. and Zapata,V. (eds) (2002). Curso taller sobre instrumentos metodológicos para la toma de decisiones en el manejo de los recursos naturales y protección de fuentes de agua. ENACAL-DAR 6-Juigalpa. CIAT-UNICEF-ENACAL. CIAT-Communities and Watersheds, Publication. No. 12. Managua, Nicaragua.
CIAT (1999). Decision-making for sustainable natural resource management: Nine tools that help. Feriva S.A., Cali, Colombia. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, CIAT. 2002. Communities and Watersheds Annual Report. CIAT, Cali, Colombia.
ECOFUTURO (2000). Informe de la realización del estudio de base para la aplicación de los IMTD-MRN en el Municipio de Bolivar, Valle, Colombia. Photocopied, pp. 23.
Espinosa, N. and Vernooy, R. (1998). Las 15 microcuencas del Río Calico, San Dionisio, Matagalpa. CIAT, Proyecto Laderas Centro América. pp. 99.
Giraldo, G. (2003). Small seed production agro-enterprise development. CIAT - Honduras. Draft. pp. 230.
Usma, H., Oberthur, T. and Escobar, G. (2003). Three dimensional mapping. CIAT, Uso de la Tierra. Draft. CIAT, Cali, Colombia.
Vernooy, R., Espinosa, N. and Lamy, F. (1998). Mapeo, análisis y monitoreo participativos de una subcuenca. CIAT, Cali, Colombia.
APPENDIX 1 Action plans reported by Honduran Institutions
Action plans reported by Honduran Institutions
APPENDIX 2 Geographical distribution of the DSTs in Nicaragua - 2002
Geographical distribution of the DSTs in Nicaragua - 2002
DSTs for NRM, applied by local and institutional organizations in several departments of Nicaragua.
APPENDIX 3 Activities in progress in Nicaragua following training workshops - 2003
|
INSTITUTION |
ACTIVITIES |
|
Human Development Institute |
· Dissemination of participatory NRM methods and incorporation of some of them into the ongoing programme activities. |
|
Central American University |
· Inclusion of DSTs into the curriculum. · Use of DSTs in undergraduate theses. · Dissemination of the tools among teaching staff at the University. · Dissemination of the DSTs among producers in areas where the university works (aquiculture and agriculture). |
|
National University at Matagalpa |
· Use of the DST on Market Identification in the Market Research course and in applied research courses. · Adapt some of the instruments to the agro-ecology and soil conservation courses. · Training teaching staff who can use the DSTs in their courses. |
|
Farmer to Farmer Programme |
· Training farmers in the use of the DSTs. |
|
National Technological Institute |
· Reproduction of the CD with the tools to make it available at each of the INATEC centres. Carry out workshops about the DSTs. · Monitoring and evaluation to verify the use of the DSTs. |
|
National Forestry Institute |
· Teaching the course contents to students in different courses. · Adjust the CD contents with new local information. |
|
Foundation for Rural Development |
· Train local leaders and technical staff. · Organization of task forces for market research. · Selection of promising products. · Development of an action plan. |
|
World Vision |
· Designing an action plan. · Train working groups on Local indicators of soil quality, Participatory mapping, Stakeholder analysis, Organizational processes and Market opportunities identification. |
|
National Institute for Municipal Development |
· Train the Institute's staff in the use of the DSTs. · Review of the municipal support process to prepare a proposal on the use of DSTs at the municipal level. · Adaptation of the DSTs to our needs. |
|
Polytechnic University |
· Application of the DSTs with farmers in the TipiTapa municipality. · Incorporation of the DSTs into university teaching. |
|
CIAT San Dionisio |
· Stakeholder analysis in San Dionisio, · Organizing a stakeholders' network at micro-watershed level for designing a NRM project. |
|
Agricultural Commission |
· Market study with four farmers' groups in Esteli, Condega and Pueblo Nuevo. |
APPENDIX 4 Activities in progress in Honduras following training workshops - 2003
|
INSTITUTION |
ACTIVITIES |
|
Honduran Forestry Commission |
· Study the DSTs in detail and run training workshops for staff · Insertion of the DSTs into the Commission's programmes · Application of the DSTs, adapting them to local conditions |
|
National School of Forestry |
· Insertion of the DSTs into the school curriculum · Use of the DSTs in thesis development |
|
CARE |
· Provide training in the DSTs for CARE staff · Carry out participatory mapping activities with the Water Management Units in microwatersheds |
|
World Vision |
· Application of the tools in market research studies · Apply the DSTs in microwatershed analysis · Use the DSTs in a re-forestation campaign for 17 microwatersheds · Use the DSTs in strengthening the watershed plan |
|
Ecological Association for the protection of PicoPijol National Park |
· Apply the DSTs in an environmental diagnosis project carried out by the communities · Strengthen the strategic environmental analysis |
|
National Association of Non-governmental Organizations |
· Training for other association members in the use of the DSTs |
|
Alternative Development |
· To apply the Local indicators of soil quality tool with farmers dedicated to agro-forestry · Apply the DSTs in developing a microwatershed management proposal in La Entrada, Copan |
|
Honduran Brotherhood |
· Train the San Marcos de Ocotepeque Association in the use of some of the DSTs |
|
Ministry of Natural Resources |
· Training in the use of the DSTs to other staff members · Incorporation of the DSTs in the watershed management activities |
|
Emergencies Commission |
· To apply the DSTs to the organization of local emergency committees |
|
Atlantic Coast University |
· Conduct a workshop on Local indicators of soil quality · Insertion into the curriculum of the DSTs related to agronomy forestry, administration and economy |
|
Saint Peter Institute - Yoro |
· Carry out the participatory mapping of a microwatershed |
APPENDIX 5 Decision support tools and an atlas for NRM developed by CIAT (1999)
IDENTIFYING AND CLASSIFYING LOCAL INDICATORS OF SOIL QUALITY
Section 1
Technical indicators of soil quality
Section 2
Identifying and prioritizing local indicators of soil quality
Section 3
Integrating technical and local indicators of soil quality
Section 4
Integrated soil management strategies
Section 5
Soil fair- Integration in practice
PHOTOTOPOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF LAND USE TRENDS IN HILLSIDES
Section 1
Classification of land use
Section 2
Chronological analysis of tendencies in land use in hillsides
PARTICIPATORY MAPPING: Analysis and Monitoring in a Watershed
Section 1
Preparatory steps for field work
Section 2
Key characteristics of the landscape
Section 3
Participatory analysis of natural resources
Section 4
Identification of microwatersheds in process of degradation and their monitoring
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
Section 1
Why promote collective action?
Section 2
Method for identifying contrasting perceptions: the individual interview
Section 3
Identification and discussion of conflicting interests within collective
action
IDENTIFYING LEVELS OF WELL-BEING
Section 1
Selecting communities for classification
Section 2
Classification of weel-being levels
Section 3
Grouping families in categories of weel-being
Section 4
Applying indicators to study zone
Section 5
Quantifying well-being indicators and elaboration of an index for the study
area
Section 6
Validating well-being levels and defining a local profile
ATLAS OF YORITO AND SULACO - Honduras
Section 1
Biophysical information of the watershed
Section 2
Agricultural production systems in the watershed
Section 3
Demographic information
IDENTIFYING MARKET OPPORTUNITIES
Section 1
Elaborating a socio-economic profile of a microregion
Section 2
Design and execution of a rapid study of markets
Section 3
Evaluation and selection of market options
Section 4
Design of integrated productive projects
USING SIMULATION MODELS FOR EX-ANTE EVALUATION
Section 1
A conceptual framework for ex-ante evaluation
Section 2
Simulation models for production systems
Section 3
Model construction: linear programming tool
Section 4
Applying linear programming models to ex-ante evaluation
DEVELOPING ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES FOR NATURAL RESOURCE COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT
Section 1
Processes of organization differentiated
Section 2
Methodological instruments for developing a process of organization at watershed
level
Section 3
Steps in a process of organization at watershed level
