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Browsing by Subject "Governance"

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Collaborative water governance in Thailand : much ado about nothing?
(2015) Kanjina, Sukit; Hoffmann, Volker
The river basin committee (RBC) framework was first introduced in Thailand in 2002, and the current one adopted in 2007 has been implemented in all 25 river basins located in the country ever since. By all accounts, the RBC framework is innovative as far as Thailand’s administrative system and water resource sector are concerned. It was only recently that the former started to promote non-public sector participation, and the underlying legal framework expressly requires that representatives of the non-public sector, such as water user organizations and local experts, be included in the RBC together with those representing the public agencies concerned. The latter envisions the RBC as a new mechanism for managing water resources by using a river basin as a managerial unit. Based on the RBC framework’s prescription, it can be seen that Thailand is moving toward collaborative water governance, where both public and non-public sector representatives take part in decision making on water resource-related issues in their respective river basin. This study empirically examines the implementation process and outcomes of the RBC framework by using the Ping RBC arrangement as an illustrative case. It aims specifically to explore the formation and management of the RBC, its collaborative processes and participation, and the outcomes it generates. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants such as the officials responsible from Water Resources Regional Office 1 (WRO 1), and Ping RBC members; and an informal interview was applied as well with some DWR officials. In addition, relevant activities were observed through non-participant observation, while related documentary data, e.g. documents on the RBC framework, also were collected. The data gathered were analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis. It was found overall that the Ping RBC framework was established by following relevant directives. Ping RBC members include representatives from the public sector such as the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) and Department of Water Resources (DWR), as well as the provincial governors concerned and representatives from the non-public sector, including water user organizations (agricultural, industrial, commercial, service, and tourism sectors), local government organizations (LGOs), and the expert group; while WRO 1 serves as the secretariat. In addition, other governing bodies were established as well, including one river basin sub-committee, five provincial river basin working groups, and 20 sub-river basin working groups who, similar to Ping RBC members, represented both the public and non-public sector at the river basin, provincial, and sub-river basin level. It was discovered that regarding RBC management the Ping RBC and its governing bodies were governed by the lead organization-governed form, where WRO 1 played the leading role and left no room for involvement from other members. For example, it called the meetings and prepared their agenda. Indeed, meetings were the only activity organized for these river basin governing bodies and they were infrequent (e.g. twice per year for the Ping RBC). Furthermore, they were organized with a formal format, where the officer responsible normally provided information to the meeting, with virtually no deliberation or discussion. With these meetings being the only activity where members of the river basin governing bodies could get together, it was apparent that face-to-face dialogue, which is a crucial element in leading to others elements in a collaborative process, such as trust and shared understanding, was simply non-existent. Interaction between the secretariat and members of the river basin governing bodies, as well as among the members also failed to occur. Participation in the Ping RBC setup involved just information sharing, as members of the Ping RBC and its governing bodies were provided with only data on, for example, drought and flood situations. The governing bodies of the Ping River Basin, especially the Ping RBC, took part in approving river basin management and development frameworks as well as annual river basin management and development plans. However, their approval was unnecessary because the frameworks and annual plans in question were a collection of project plans gathered from the public agencies concerned and LGOs located in the river basin. They were prepared based on relevant policies and directives, with no need for approval from the Ping RBC setup before submission for national budget allocation. Since the frameworks and annual plans were the only outputs produced, it was therefore apparent that the Ping RBC framework performed virtually no functions to fulfill its mandates such as a water resource management plan, water user priority or water allocation. Evidently, the Ping RBC framework is an ineffective mechanism that is characterized by lack of collaboration, participation and outcomes, which have impacts on water resource management in the river basin. A similar result can be expected from the other 24 RBCs operating under the same administrative system and legal framework. Therefore, Thailand is still far from achieving collaborative governance in its water resource sector. Clearly, this unsuccessful RBC framework was influenced by the Thai administrative system; for instance, the public agencies involved have to follow their own policies and directives, thereby failing to make the RBC framework their top priority and only passively participating in the setup. However, the underlying cause is due largely to the RBC framework’s lack of authority. This is because the legal framework regulating the RBC framework has limited legal authority; consequently, virtually no authority is delegated to this arrangement. Accordingly, the RBC framework has no full authority regarding water resource management as its decisions, if any, can be enforced upon only public agencies and state-owned enterprises. Furthermore, it also has less authority when compared to other public bodies governed by superior legal frameworks; as such, it cannot force active participation in the RBC arrangement, and is not officially recognized (e.g. by the budget allocation system). It can be seen as important that with no authority delegated, non-public sector representatives do not share any decision making power despite their inclusion into the framework concerned. Therefore, to avert the same result generated by the RBC framework in moving toward collaborative water governance, policy changes are needed regarding its authority and implementation process at the national level, or at the DWR. Ideally, a change is required at the national level by passing a comprehensive legal framework, i.e. a Water Act. By this law, the RBC framework’s authority in managing water resources is secured and the framework itself is officially recognized. Arrangements for implementation of the RBC framework also can be prescribed, e.g. a budget allocation system recognizing the RBC framework and creating the RBC’s own office. However, this option is rather difficult to achieve, if not impossible, due to the lack of political support. A more probable change at the national level would be to issue a new regulation that revises the RBC framework, which can be done more easily than passing a law. Essentially, under this new regulation, the new RBC framework would be based at the provincial level. As such, the RBC would be abolished, while the provincial RBC and its governing bodies would be transformed to ‘collaborative watershed partnerships’ focused on a provincial river basin master/action plan. By this new regulation, the public bodies concerned would be obliged to follow the plan mentioned when preparing their water resource-related projects/programs, which would be applicable within authority of the regulation. In addition, diverse activities (e.g. meetings and capacity building) should be organized in order to support both the river basin governing bodies and implementing units of the DWR. The DWR should change its policies regarding implementation of the RBC framework, if there is no change at the national level, and the RBC framework continues to be carried out under the current regulation. It is essential in this circumstance for the DWR to encourage a revision of the RBC structure in order to make it less complex and more manageable, and shift the focus from the RBC itself to the river basin governing bodies at the provincial and sub-river basin level. Besides capacity building activities, and frequent and less formal meetings, the DWR should also direct its implementing units to facilitate the river basin governing bodies in order to develop a river basin management plan for respective provinces. This should be based on the problems and needs of the sub-river basins located in those particular provinces; and presented through the public agencies and LGOs concerned for consideration and inclusion in their own plans. This might be the only way to increase the likelihood of some elements of the river basin management plan being realized, given that the RBC framework has no authority or official recognition.
Comparison of institutional arrangements for inclusive dairy market development in India
(2019) Ravichandran, Thanammal; Birner, Regina
Future projections show that by 2025, the demand for dairy products in developing countries will increase by 25 percent due to population growth, urbanization and increased incomes. This increase in demand offers a unique opportunity for smallholder dairy farmers, who may achieve higher levels of income and well-being if they are able to increase their milk production. Currently, smallholder dairy producers in developing countries face severe constraints caused by low productivity, lack of market access and high transaction costs. Hence, investments in dairy production that aim to overcome these constraints can serve as a powerful tool for poverty reduction and rural development. Many donors have already invested in reducing poverty by stimulating growth of dairy sector, but the success of such development projects has been variable and largely dependent on local circumstances. India is a good example of the challenges faced by the promotion of dairy development. Remarkable growth in the dairy sector has been achieved by “Operation Flood”, a large-scale government-funded program to promote smallholder dairy production and market integration. However, growth in the dairy sector was not equally distributed among the different regions of India. Moreover, depending on the region, marginalized farmers, including female farmers, still face barriers to access technological innovations (e.g., breed improvement and better feeding practices) as well as access to institutions (e.g., credit and markets). Therefore, India presents a good case for a comparative study that aims to identify what types of institutional arrangements are most suitable to promote inclusive growth of the dairy sector, depending on local circumstances. Against this background, it is the main objective of this thesis to analyze institutional arrangements for inclusive dairy sector development and to explore the factors that influence or hinder inclusive growth, using India as a case study country. The focus is placed on institutional arrangements that have the potential to address governance challenges and gender inequality in dairy development. Data for this thesis was collected in three Indian states that differ with regard to the overall governance conditions: Telangana, which enjoys favorable governance conditions, Bihar, which can be classified as intermediate, and Uttarakhand, a state with rather unfavorable governance conditions. The thesis is composed of five chapters. Following an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 explores the governance challenges that different institutional arrangements of dairy marketing pose for inclusive growth. Chapter 3 focuses on the barriers faced by women to participate in institutional arrangements for dairy marketing and to access and control the income derived from dairy production. Chapter 4 presents a case study of the MilkIT project, an internationally funded project that used the institutional arrangement of the “Innovation Platform” to promote dairy development. Chapter 5 discusses the overall findings of the thesis in a comparative perspective and identifies the success factors, which influence inclusive growth of the dairy sector. The final chapter also presents policy recommendations for inclusive dairy development. The institutional arrangements for dairy marketing that were examined in Bihar and Telangana include different types of dairy cooperatives (with mixed membership and women-only membership), a private dairy company and informal marketing arrangements. A qualitative research approach using Grounded Theory was applied to identify the factors that influence participation of women and marginalized groups in different institutional arrangements. The researcher stayed for two weeks in each of the selected villages and collected data using participant observation as well as other research tools: semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and the application of Net-Map, a participatory mapping technique. In Uttarakhand, data from a baseline household survey and focus group discussions conducted for the MilkIT project were compared with a post-intervention household survey to assess the impact of Innovation Platforms on institutional and technological innovations. Furthermore, the documentation of meetings held in the context of the Innovation Platforms was analyzed. The findings of the study underline that gender inequality and governance challenges are major constraints to achieving inclusive growth, which require context-specific interventions. In Telangana, dairy cooperatives that have only women as members proved to be an appropriate institutional arrangement for inclusive dairy development. These women-only cooperatives performed better than cooperatives with mixed membership. The study showed that women and lower caste producers were often not able to participate in cooperatives with mixed membership, and those who participated had limited access to leadership roles and training opportunities. The results for Bihar were rather different, which underlines the need for a context-specific approach. Women-only cooperatives allowed females and low-caste members to participate, but all leadership roles were occupied by men who dominated the management of those cooperatives. As in Telangana, the mixed dairy cooperative in Bihar were not fully inclusive, but those women and low caste members who were able to join benefitted relatively more from access to inputs and training as was the case in Telangana. Exclusion of women and marginalized groups was particularly evident in the case of a private dairy company in Telangana, which mainly focused on marketing of milk and did not engage in services for productivity enhancement. Informal dairy market arrangements were found to be easily accessible for women and marginalized groups, but they did not facilitate access to inputs and services either. The Innovation Platform approach was found to be effective in facilitating market access and promoting technical innovations. By design and in practice, women were given a chance to participate in this approach not only by attending meetings but also by participating in decision-making. The study demonstrates that both the institutional set-up and the prevailing governance processes are key aspects of institutional arrangements for inclusive dairy development. Success factors include decentralized governance structures; low state interference; participation of women not only at the village level, but also higher levels of the cooperative arrangement (union or federation level); democratic practices, especially transparency, in the election of leaders; and involvement of all types of members in decision making. Effectiveness and inclusiveness in the provision of economic services also mattered, most notably with regard to input supply and support services to all members. The type of institutional arrangements required to realize these success factors may differ across regions, as the comparison of Telangana and Bihar shows. Overall, the study suggests that performing a context-specific social and gender analysis is essential for the design of formal institutional arrangements for dairy markets, a finding that likely applies to all agricultural markets. The study clearly shows that creating organizations with women-only membership is not a sufficient condition to promote inclusive agricultural development. What matters is women’s participation in leadership position of agricultural marketing organizations (which may require quotas), capacity building, networking through self-help groups and extension services that are accessible to women. The study also shows that innovative institutional arrangements, such as Innovation Platforms, also have a promising potential to foster inclusive agricultural development.
Corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector : exploring the peculiarities of public enterprises
(2021) Tremml, Timo; Ebersberger, Bernd
Entrepreneurship is predominantly treated as a private-sector phenomenon and consequently its increasing importance in the public sector goes largely unremarked. That impedes the research field of entrepreneurship being capable of spanning multiple sectors. Accordingly, recent research calls for the study of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) as it manifests in the public sector where it can be labeled public entrepreneurship (PE). This dissertation considers government an essential entrepreneurial actor and is led by the central research question: What are the peculiarities of the public sector and how do they impact public enterprises’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO)? Accordingly, this dissertation includes three studies focusing on public enterprises. Two of the studies set the scope of this thesis by investigating a specific type of organization in a specific context—German majority-government-owned energy suppliers. These enterprises operate in a liberalized market experiencing environmental uncertainties like competitiveness and business transformation. The aims and results of the studies included in this dissertation can be summarized as follows: The systematic literature review illuminates the stimuli of and barriers to entrepreneurial activities in public enterprises and the potential outcomes of such activities discussed so far. The review reveals that research on EO has tended to focus on the private sector and consequently that barriers to and outcomes of entrepreneurial activities in the public sector remain under-researched. Building on these findings, the qualitative study focuses on the interrelated barriers affecting entrepreneurship in public enterprises and the outcomes of entrepreneurial activities being inhibited. The study adopts an explorative comparative causal mapping approach to address the above-mentioned research goal and the lack of clarity around how barriers identified in the public sphere are interrelated. Furthermore, the study bases its investigation on the different business segments of sales (competitive market) and the distribution grid (natural monopoly) to account for recent calls for fine-grained research on PE. Results were compared with prior findings in the public and private sector. That comparison indicates that the barriers revealed align with aspects discussed in prior research findings relating to both sectors. Examples include barriers associated with the external environment such as legal constraints and barriers originating from within the organization such as employee behavior linked to a value system that hampers entrepreneurial action. However, the most important finding is that a public enterprise’s supervisory board can hinder its progress, a finding running counter to those of previous private-sector research and one that underscores the widespread prejudice that the involvement of a public shareholder and its nominated board of directors has a negative effect on EO. The third study is quantitative (data collection via a questionnaire) and builds on both its predecessors to examine the little understood topic of board behavior and public enterprises’ social orientation as predictors of EO. The study’s results indicate that social orientation represses EO, whereas board strategy control (BSC) does not seem to predict EO. Regarding BSC, we find that the local government owners in our sample are less involved in BSC. The third study also examines board networking and finds its relationship with EO depends on the ownership structure of the public-sector organization. An important finding is that minority shareholders, such as majority privately-owned enterprises and hub firms, repress EO when engaging in board networking. In summary, this doctoral thesis contributes to the under-researched topic of CE in the public sector. It investigates the peculiarities of this sector by focusing on the supervisory board and social oriented activities and their impact on the enterprise’s EO in the quantitative study. The thesis addresses institutional questions regarding ownership and the last study in particular contributes to expanding resource dependence theory, and invites a nuanced perspective: The original perspective suggests that interorganizational arrangements like interfirm network ties and equity holdings reduce external resource dependency and consequently improve firm performance. The findings within this thesis expose resource delivery to potential contrary effects to extend the understanding of interorganizational action with important implications for practice.
Debt position of developing countries and new initiatives for debt reduction: a panel data fixed effects estimation of the impacts of the HIPC initiatives
(2005) Houssou, Nazaire; Heidhues, Franz
In September 1996, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). This initiative was endorsed by 180 governments around the world as an effective and welcome approach to help poor, severely indebted countries reduce debt as a part of the overall poverty reduction strategy. Three years later, the initiative was enhanced to provide for faster, broader and deeper debt relief. Using a panel data fixed effect estimation, this study assesses the achievements of the first and second HIPC initiatives and explores further areas of intervention that might help the HIPCs graduate from debt rescheduling and achieve sustainable growth and poverty alleviation. Despite moderate achievements of the HIPC measures so far, this paper argues in favour of a HIPC III initiative. Much more relief is needed to link debt reduction to poverty alleviation if the expectations raised by the HIPC initiatives are to become reality.
Development potential of smallholder livestock production in Zambia
(2019) Lubungu, Mary; Birner, Regina
The continued increase in the demand for livestock products in Africa presents a development opportunity for smallholder livestock farmers. If this opportunity is harnessed well, it can contribute to rural poverty reduction. However, translating this opportunity into reality requires unlocking smallholder farmers productivity potential, considering that livestock performs numerous functions beyond just serving as an income source. To support this development opportunity for smallholder livestock farmers, it is essential to enable a large share of small-scale farmers to engage in livestock farming and increase the productivity of smallholder livestock farming systems in an equitable and environmentally sustainable way. Taking Zambia as an example, this thesis aims to identify and analyze factors that have been obstacles to livestock development. Based on two rounds of panel data collected from smallholder farm households in Zambia, it was observed that the share of farmers who keep cattle is limited and that farmers move in and out of cattle production, despite the many benefits that livestock offers. Therefore, there is a need to identify what enables and disables farmers to keep livestock. There is also a need to identify the driving factors of livestock herd growth since small herd size is one factor that prevents farmers from participating in the market for livestock products. To better understand how livestock production systems can be developed equitably, it is also necessary to understand the gender dimensions of livestock farming to ensure that women will not be left out of the growth process. Moreover, to be able to support livestock production effectively, it is also essential to identify the governance challenges that are likely to occur in the implementation of livestock development interventions. Against this backdrop, the thesiss overall goal was to identify options to promote sustainable livestock production systems. The thesis focused on cattle, which is the most valuable large asset among smallholder farmers in Zambia. The thesis had four specific objectives, which are addressed in separate chapters: (i) To unravel the mystery of moving in and out of cattle keeping; (ii) to identify the factors determining the livestock herd size among smallholder farmers in Zambia; (iii) to understand the gender dimensions in cattle production; and (iv) To uncover the governance challenges of implementing the vaccination campaigns in Zambia To achieve these objectives, a mixed-method research approach was used, involving both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative analysis was based on an existing household survey data set, which is representative at the national level. Various econometric techniques were applied, including probit, correlated random effect, and zero-one inflated beta regressions. For the qualitative component of the study, a combination of empirical data collection methods was applied, which included focus group discussions, individual household in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and a participatory mapping method called Process-Net-Map. Analytical methods for the qualitative component of the study included content analysis as well as causal narratives. The analysis showed that moving in or out of cattle production is influenced by human population growth, climatic variability, livestock population density, male household labor availability, and institutional support. The findings indicate that household-level factors and regional factors and their interaction influence households ability to take up cattle production and continue this activity over time. One can derive from this analysis that regional incentives, such as an increase in the demand for draft power, are important to encourage cattle production, but household level challenges, such as labor availability, need to be addressed, as well. The analysis also indicated that loss of cattle due to death, rather than cattle sales, was a major reason for the reduction in herd size. Mortality rates were found to be responsive to animal health interventions, which underlines the need for effective animal health services as a precondition for improved productivity in livestock production. The analysis also showed that farmers mainly increased their herd size by keeping the off-spring of their herd rather than by buying animals. Low conception rates due to limited feed resources during the dry season were identified as a major obstacle to a faster increase in herd size. Farmers who were able to enter into cattle production typically used their income from crop farming to acquire the first stock. This finding indicates that, in the absence of well-functioning rural financial markets, smallholders who cannot generate a surplus from crop farming will not be able to move into cattle production. The analysis also threw light on the factors that enable women to own cattle. These factors included financial independence and the accumulation of other assets. Women were also more likely to own cattle in households with larger herd sizes. Perceived intra-household conflicts were identified as an obstacle to female cattle ownership. Considering the important role of livestock support programs, an in-depth analysis of a program was carried out that supported livestock vaccination campaigns. The Process Net-Map method served to identify the governance challenges faced by the program. The findings established that the complexity of the procurement procedure, the limited capacity of the central actors, and a lack of urgency from influential actors resulted in procurement delays, and a diversion of funds caused delays in the release of funds. Lack of influence by the farmers also contributed to the inefficiency of the implementation procedure. The findings are likely to be relevant for implementing other livestock development programs that involve the distribution of publicly procured inputs. Overall, it was concluded that the problems identified in the thesis need to be addressed. Otherwise, smallholder livestock farmers will not be able to exploit the opportunity of rising demand for livestock products. A number of policy recommendations were derived from the findings. These include the provision of institutional and technical support for the intensification of smallholder cattle production, strategies to bridge the gender gap in cattle production in a way that does not result in household conflicts; and innovative approaches to improve the efficiency in the implementation of livestock development programs.
Do agricultural advisory services in Europe have the capacity to support the transition to healthy soils?
(2022) Ingram, Julie; Mills, Jane; Black, Jasmine E.; Chivers, Charlotte-Anne; Aznar-Sánchez, José A.; Elsen, Annemie; Frac, Magdalena; López-Felices, Belén; Mayer-Gruner, Paula; Skaalsveen, Kamilla; Stolte, Jannes; Tits, Mia
The need to provide appropriate information, technical advice and facilitation to support farmers in transitioning towards healthy soils is increasingly clear, and the role of the Agricultural Advisory Services (AAS) in this is critical. However, the transformation of AAS (plurality, commercialisation, fragmentation, decentralisation) brings new challenges for delivering advice to support soil health management. This paper asks: To what extent do agricultural advisory services have the capacity to support the transition to healthy soils across Europe? Using the ‘best fit’ framework, analytical characteristics of the AAS relevant to the research question (governance structures, management, organisational and individual capacities) were identified. Analysis of 18 semi-structured expert interviews across 6 case study countries in Europe, selected to represent a range of contexts, was undertaken. Capacities to provide soil health management (SHM) advice are constrained by funding arrangements, limited adviser training and professional development, adviser motivations and professional cultures, all determined by institutional conditions. This has resulted in a narrowing down of access and content of soil advice and a reduced capacity to support the transition in farming to healthy soils. The extent to which emerging policy and market drivers incentivise enhanced capacities in AAS is an important area for future research.
Exploring the governance of traditional water reservoirs in the Mazandaran province, Northern Iran
(2019) Mirzaei, Arezoo; Knierim, Andrea
This study explores the governance of water reservoirs in the Mazandaran province, Northern Iran, from the perspective of public and private sectors at the regional level, as well as local stakeholders within the communities. Although water management in Iran has been frequently investigated, research which specifically addresses the governance of water reservoirs in the Mazandaran province from perspective of various stakeholders is not existent. The traditional water reservoirs in the Mazandaran province called Ab-bandan are used to collect the precipitation during autumn and winter seasons to be used for irrigating rice fields during the growing seasons (spring and summer). In spite of these reservoirs, a significant amount of precipitation runs off into the sea through rivers and only less than 10% of precipitation is being stored in Ab-bandans. This is due to the challenges in governing these water reservoirs such as lack of strategic planning of administrative bodies. This draws attention to the poor governance of water reservoirs in the Mazandaran province, which presents a major challenge to ensure the security of water supply, and in particular for rice production. Thus, the objectives of this study are: 1) to identify gaps in the governance of Ab-bandans, 2) to identify and assess the policy instruments for the improvement of the governance of Ab-bandans, and 3) to investigate the influence of social capital components on the governance of Ab-bandans among local stakeholders. These objectives form the papers of this cumulative Ph.D. dissertation. The first paper reveals water governance gaps with the focus on Ab-bandans using the ‘OECDs Multi-level Governance Framework’ as a conceptual basis. This framework is a guideline for policy-makers in all countries in order to distinguish public governance gaps regardless of the institutional setting. Identifying the gaps could provide an input for policy-makers in order to prioritize options to strengthen the governance of Ab-bandans. A modified Delphi technique was used to identify these gaps by face-to-face interviews and ranking round. Interviews were conducted with individuals working in public agencies and the private sector pertaining to water management. The results show that the lack of a specific law for Ab-bandans is perceived as the most acute gap. However, the significant issue is that there is interdependence among all the gaps and they can strengthen one another. Therefore, a holistic perspective is needed to understand and resolve the gaps in the governance of Ab-bandans. There is no magic or ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to overcome the gaps and a mix of solutions is required. The second paper refers to identify relevant water policy instruments and assessing the suitability of these multiple instruments in an integrated way towards good governance of Ab-bandans. Water policy instruments are tools, strategies, and mechanisms for policy-makers to overcome governance obstacles in water policy; for instance, involving sub-national governments in designing water policy beyond their roles as implementers is a policy instrument to foster effective water management. An exploratory sequential design was realized as a mixed methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) for the purpose of research. The results reveal that policy instruments identified properly contribute to the improvement of the governance of Ab-bandans. Participation and collective action among farmers have the highest priority for the improvement of water governance. Therefore, it can be seen as the starting point for the desired transformation. Moreover, the policy instruments are interdependent and shouldn’t be addressed in isolation. The improvement of the governance of Ab-bandans should be systematic and it is not possible to apply a single policy instrument without considering the impact of other policy instruments. It is necessary to adopt the policy instruments in a holistic way to solve difficulties in the governance of Ab-bandans. The third paper explores aspects of social capital in the governance of Ab-bandans seeking explanations as to how and why components of social capital among various local stakeholders influence the water reservoirs-related interactions within the communities. Social capital is an important factor, which facilitates collective interaction of the local community’ members for water system sustainability. Therefore, this study investigates key social capital components (i.e. trust, co-operation, social network cohesion, leaders and their roles, and conflict resolution) affecting the governance of Ab-bandans among local stakeholders. The qualitative method was applied to achieve the purpose of research. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a range of local key stakeholders of Ab-bandans. The study shows that the level of social capital and its importance can differ depending on which component is under investigation. According to the results, mechanisms for conflict resolution are the most important aspect of social capital which plays a significant role for the other components. Social relationships and cohesion are being reduced due to the conflicts in water management and lack of appropriate mechanisms for resolution. Therefore, resolution of conflicts can bring people together in the group events to communicate and address their common issues and promote their co-operation for collective decision-making and planning. The results of the study support the idea that the management of Ab-bandans in a collective manner at the local level in the Mazandaran province needs to take all components of social capital into consideration. This would enable local communities to be more resilient in the face of collective action problems. Overall, it can be concluded that managing water reservoirs in the Mazandaran province, Northern Iran requires collaborative efforts between various stakeholders within and between the local communities. The government should undertake the role of facilitator rather than governmentality, by using participatory and bottom-up processes for decision-making, planning, and resolving conflicts among local stakeholders. The government should establish effective strategies of governance to engage farmers in management decisions and empower and integrate them to be able to solve their problems in water-related issues. There is also an urgent need for co-operation and participation not only between local stakeholders and responsive public agencies at the regional level, but also among public agencies in charge of water policy design and implementation. As the government is the owner and manager of water resources, better management and utilization of Ab-bandans will only succeed if accompanied by a shift in public governance through the engagement of all relevant actors.
Governance challenges in post-conflict agricultural recovery programs in Northern Uganda : a comparative study of the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) and the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)
(2015) Wassajja, Emmy; Birner, Regina
Violent conflicts are a major constraint to food security and agricultural development in many regions of the developing world. Rebuilding agriculture is a primary task after a conflict comes to an end yet agricultural recovery projects are challenging to implement because governance challenges such as corruption and elite capture are wide spread in post-conflict projects. This thesis presents a detailed case study of such governance challenges taking two agricultural recovery projects in Northern Uganda as examples. Overall, the study concludes that there is no ‘‘silverbullet‘‘ in improving governance of livelihoods programs in post-conflict areas. However, when both demand and supply-side strategies are implemented in a well-coordinated way, the governance challenges inherent in post-conflict recovery programs can be confronted more effectively.This will make an important contribution to rebuilding the agricultural livelihoods and ensuring food security in conflict-affected regions.
Governance challenges of developing biomass-based value webs : the case of maize in Ethiopia
(2018) Mengistu, Tilahun Woldie; Birner, Regina
In recent years, the need to move from an economy based on fossil resources to an economy based on biological resources has gained increasing attention. The bioeconomy has the potential to ensure sustainable growth by enhancing the usage of untapped biomass resources. This potential is particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa and has attracted the attention of both governments and the international donor community. To use the potential of the bioeconomy in a sustainable way without jeopardizing food security, it is essential to increase the productivity and the efficiency of the production and utilization of biomass. Using the maize production in Ethiopia as a case study, this thesis aims to identify strategies that will contribute to a higher productivity and better utilization of biomass in the emerging bioeconomy. Maize has been selected for this case study because it is on one the one hand a major food crop in Africa while it has, on the other hand, the potential to provide biomass for multiple uses in the bioeconomy. Ethiopia is well suited for the case study because it is confronted with major challenges of food security, while it has at the same time a large underutilized potential to increase the production of biomass for the bioeconomy. The thesis focuses on two themes: One is an analysis of the seed system, because maize seed supply has been identified as a major bottleneck to increasing productivity in the production of biomass. Ethiopias seed sector has been plagued with problems of seed quality regulation, certification, dominance of informal seed sourcing, and inefficient distribution system, among other governance challenges. There have been major reform efforts in recent years, but there is not sufficient empirical evidence on how these reforms have fared. The second theme to the thesis is the utilization of the biomass from maize. This topic has been selected because there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the usage of the different components of maize (e.g. cob, stalk, leaves etc.) for several purposes, and its implications for household food security. Against this background, the broad objective of this thesis is threefold: (1) to analyze the institutional arrangements for maize seed quality regulation, and uncover the governance challenges therein; (2) to identify the governance challenges in the hybrid maize seed distribution system and analyze farmers’ preferences of the select attributes for hybrid seed distribution; and (3) to assess usages of the different components of maize biomass, and examine its implications for food security. The thesis is based on a mixed methods approach. Data were collected using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study of seed quality regulation relies primarily on qualitative data collected through Process Net-Maps, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and direct observation in three maize growing districts. For the second and third objectives, data were collected using household survey and a choice experiment covering 325 farmers, Process Net-Maps, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. We employ the latent class and endogenous switching regression models to analyze the choice experiment data on farmers’ preference for the distribution attributes and effect of farmers’ diverse biomass use decision on food security, respectively. The findings of the thesis contribute to the wider debates on governance and institutional challenges of ensuring food security through development of the bioeconomy, taking maize as an important bioeconomy crop. By investigating the roles of different stakeholders in the seed system, the study finds that the systems suffer from a number of governance and institutional challenges such as corruption, implementation gaps that arise due to capacity limitation and lack of political will to support private sector participation. The study suggests ways to overcome the governance challenges, which include enhancing internal as well as external quality control mechanisms, redefining certification standards, making certification services transparent, participatory and cost-effective, and a strong political will to fully implement reforms by promoting private sector participation. Additionally, the positive and homogeneous preferences for attributes like seed quality, types of sales outlets and access to credit that are shared by the majority of the surveyed farmers’ show the extent to which reform outcomes deviated from the needs of farmers. The study identified farmers’ preferences regarding the question of how they would like to access hybrid seeds and recommends ways to overcome the governance challenges in seed distribution in Ethiopia. In addition to examining problems regarding production, the study confirmed that maize biomass utilization is crucial for food security and development of bioeconomy. The findings show that maize biomass is underutilized in the country because of lack of enabling conditions such as access to extension and information, marketing channels, availability of multi-purposes maize varieties and value-adding technologies. The findings led to the recommendation that policy innovation to provide better access to these conditions is essential to achieve growth in the maize sector and food security.
Governance conundrum : understanding the dynamics of petty corruption in Bihar, India
(2016) Verma, Rajiv; Birner, Regina
This thesis examines the dynamics of petty corruption in the Indian state of Bihar. It illustrates how the problem of petty corruption is manifested in the delivery of welfare services to the poor; explains the reasons for the perpetuation of systemic corruption in public dealings; investigates the strategies of civil society-led mobilization of the poor against corruption; unravels what happens when well-meaning anti-corruption policies and reforms hit the ground; and explores the attitudes of future bureaucrats toward bribery and corruption. These inquiries become crucial, as in the last few decades, scholars have identified the problem of corruption as one of the toughest governance challenges in developing countries, wherein welfare services often get trapped in ‘corruption cycle’ (see Rose-Ackerman, 1999; Debiel et al., 2011; Villoria et al., 2013). While corruption is widely acknowledged as a problem and some attempts have been made to quantify it, there is a dearth of empirically grounded research on the dynamics of corruption, its persistence, and the probable solution for curbing it. This thesis is an attempt in that direction. Bihar is chosen as the site of investigation because it has covered a long journey from being one of the most corrupt states in India about a decade back to have become a leading state in undertaking governance reforms for curbing corruption. The findings of the thesis contribute to the wider debates on good governance and corruption. It takes forward the discourse on corruption, which is largely dominated by the works that tend to quantify it, by unravelling the dynamics of corruption as well as presenting the narration and explanation for its persistence. The thesis compliments the literature on the role of civil society in preventing corruption by providing empirical evidence on the dynamics of civil society-led mobilisation of the poorest citizens in Bihar. It advocates the support of international agencies as well as the state in this endeavour, and argues for the nurturing of second rung of leadership in the facilitating organisation for the longevity of the movement. The thesis challenges the present fixation with strict monitoring and vigilance-focused reforms in anti-corruption measures. While acknowledging the need for better monitoring and accountability, it identifies the entry points for corruption in welfare schemes and suggests ways of curbing systemic corruption. It emphasises the need for communicating well to the target population the changes in rules and regulations of welfare programmes, alongside redressing the problems of poor working conditions and low remuneration of over-worked frontline workers. Finally, the thesis, in a novel attempt of its kind, presents the attitudes of future civil servants toward bribery and corruption. It argues that the anti-corruption efforts should not only focus on stringent action and speedy trial of erring officials but also strive for changing the ‘social acceptance’ of corruption through value-based education in wider society.
Governance of emerging biomass-based value webs in Africa : case studies from Ghana
(2018) Poku, Adu-Gyamfi; Birner, Regina
Rising global demand for food as well as for feed and biomass-based raw materials such as fuel and fibre crops has increased pressure on the agricultural sector, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The expected trend of increased demand for more diverse biomass-based produce from agricultural land effectively transforms the agriculture sector from just a food-supplying to a biomass-supplying sector in the growing international bioeconomy. This transition is leading to the development of biomass-based value webs whereby there are complex systems of interlinked value chains in which food, fodder, fuels, and other raw materials are produced, processed, traded and consumed. Against this background, this thesis aims to evaluate the appropriate roles of the public, private and third (civil society) sectors in facilitating the transformation of the agricultural sector in the developing bioeconomy in Ghana. The study focuses on the emerging value webs of cassava (Manihot esculenta) and maize (Zea mays), which are the two most important staple crops in Ghana.
Performance and governance challenges of a government-funded microcredit program for the handloom weavers in Bangladesh
(2019) Parvin, Mst. Tania; Birner, Regina
Microfinance is an important policy tool for poverty reduction and employment generation in developing countries. The first microfinance institution was developed in Bangladesh in the 1970s. Since its inception, many studies have been conducted on different aspects of microfinance, such as outreach, impact and sustainability. However, these studies have mostly been limited to the performance of microcredit programs operated by non-government organizations (NGOs). Therefore, it is justified to shift the focus from NGOs to microcredit programs operated by the public sector. To fill this knowledge gap, a case study of Bangladesh Handloom Board (BHB)’s microcredit scheme has been conducted, which represents a publicly sponsored credit program targeting handloom weavers. Using a mixed methods approach, this thesis has analyzed three dimensions of the selected credit program: impact assessment, repayment performance, and governance challenges. These three topics are covered by three different papers in the thesis. The first two papers apply quantitative techniques whereas the third one adopts a qualitative approach for assessing the institutional viability. The objective of the first paper is to estimate the impact of BHB’s microcredit scheme on the handloom weaver’s investment behavior in Bangladesh. From a policy perspective, this analysis is relevant for two reasons. First, it fills the gaps in the impact assessment studies of credit which have largely neglected the government-run microcredit programs. Second, the article provides insights for the promotion and continuation of this public credit program. Using an Instrumental Variable (IV) Two-stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression model, the study findings reveal that the government credit program alone is not sufficient to increase the investment in the handloom sector of Bangladesh. The credit received from sources other than BHB was thought to be more relevant with regard to this goal. However, this result also implies that access to multiple sources of credit put borrowers into a debt trap, which makes them economically worse off after repaying loans with interest. As a result, productive investment does not take place through the credit program. This finding, however, does not imply that the credit program should be stopped. It is concluded that the credit amount available under this program for technology adoption in the handloom sector should be increased. Moreover, providing credit for power looms will facilitate a structural change from using handlooms to power looms, which may provide a more sustainable means of future livelihood for current handloom weavers. The second paper analyses the credit repayment of the BHB’s microcredit scheme. Considering that the repayment rate (which is regarded as one of the success factors of the credit program) was only 65% as of June 2015, this study identifies factors that contribute to such low repayment rate, which makes government-sponsored microcredit programs financially unsustainable. This analysis is important to guide the public credit institutions to design a better lending policy by focusing on the factors that require special attention while lending to the eligible borrowers. Using a Probit model, this study reveals that socioeconomic and community-level factors associated with the borrowers played an essential role in determining timely loan repayment. Some of these factors were beyond the control of the credit institution. In conclusion, this study suggests strengthening the loan monitoring system by opening up more branches so that the timely delivery of financial as well as non-financial services to borrowers can be assured. The third paper examines the governance challenges faced by the BHB. The analysis is based on the findings of the previous two papers. As the findings from both papers highlight the challenges of BHB, it is important to understand why such challenges occur when implementing a government-sponsored credit program and from where they exactly originate. This analysis also has implications for policy revision and reformulation of BHB, which should be guided by a better understanding of the organization-specific problems that a government-funded microcredit program is facing. These challenges are assessed by using a qualitative research method called Process Net-map. The use of this method helps to understand how the credit program is implemented in practice, which may deviate from the prescribed implementation plan. Moreover, this study analyzes the challenges that arise from the perspectives of both the supply-side and the demand-side stakeholders of BHB. The major finding of the first paper is supported by the outcome of this paper as it reveals that shortage of funds was the main obstacle for implementing BHB’s microcredit scheme, which failed to meet the clients’ financial needs. Besides this problem, the shortage of adequate staff was responsible for weak field administration, which is amplified by the lack of incentives to motivate them. Political influence and corruption in the system were also identified as central challenges. From the beneficiary-side, high opportunity cost to get loans, lack of non-financial services, inadequacy of funds, and difficulty in group formation were also major problems. A lack of transparency in information flow between groups was also noted as a problem. This paper concludes that a poorly designed program which fails to address the organization-specific challenges of government-run microcredit program will not improve the livelihood of the intended beneficiaries. Hence, the study recognizes the credit program’s need for a better legal and regulatory framework to address the governance challenges that are identified. The focus should be placed on flexible, demand-driven, bottom-up and participatory initiatives. Overall, the study concludes that government-run microcredit programs, affected by problems from large bureaucracies, face specific challenges, which tend to be larger than those faced by NGO-run microcredit programs. One possible solution may be an enhanced collaborative system that involves both public and private credit institutions as it may encourage cross-sector learning.
The road half-traveled : governance reforms of food and nutrition programs in India
(2018) Kumar, Sandhya Sasi; Birner, Regina
Since its founding as a social welfare state, India has been meandering through “a life of contradictions” when it comes to social and economic equality. A potent indicator of this reality is the state of food and nutrition security across the country. India’s meager progress comes on the heels of rapid economic growth over the last two decades and a slew of public programs have attempted to address the multi-faceted nature of food and nutrition security. These efforts have included subsidized grains for households through the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), village health, nutrition and education programming through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), and Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers (NRCs) to treat cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Though these programs have been scaled across the country, numerous governance challenges and institutional failures have persisted. The latest development in India’s food and nutrition policy landscape is the National Food Security Act (hereafter referred to as the Act) of 2013, which leverages existing national programs, including the TPDS and ICDS, to grant legal entitlements to nearly 70% of the total population. This Act was the fruit of a rights-based movement in India that demanded for over a decade to codify social and economic rights. However, the question arises as to whether this new Act been able to achieve its goal to ensure food and nutrition security by strengthening the governance of these programs? This is the central question of the present thesis. This thesis investigates how the Act has reformed the implementation of food and nutrition programs in the states of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and the capital of New Delhi. The four key objectives of this study are to investigate 1) what changes are prescribed by the Act; 2) how effective these reforms have been in addressing persistent governance challenges; 3) what challenges remain and why; and 4) what strategies could be used to address these gaps. A qualitative case study approach was applied, which involved the following data collection methods: key informant and in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, matrix ranking and process net-mapping, an innovative participatory tool that maps complex institutional processes and actors. This thesis is comprised of nine chapters. The first chapter introduces the puzzle of India’s nutritional status and explores why government efforts to tackle this problem have had tepid results. The second chapter presents the conceptual framework that defines governance challenges and an institutional framework of demand and supply side factors that contribute to effective policy and programming. Chapters three and four present an overview of the TPDS, ICDS and NRCs, and review the existing literature on the governance issues of these programs. Chapter 5 lays out the study design, methods and ethical protocols. Chapters six through eight explore each of the three programs and present key findings across the selected study sites. The last chapter presents cross-cutting conclusions for these programs in the wake of the Act and proposes a way forward to address institutional gaps in tackling food and nutrition security.
The role of institutions and networks in developing the bioeconomy : case studies from Ghana and Brazil
(2019) Scheiterle, Lilli; Birner, Regina
An increasing number of countries have begun putting focus on developing a bioeconomy strategy. The bioeconomy provides a new concept with the aim to design a sustainable economy, which is knowledge-based and based on the use of biological resources. This entails on the one hand higher production of biomass and on the other tighter networks of traditional, national and international institutions. Institutional networks are pivotal for the sustainable production and use of biological resources, as well for the development of innovative biological processes and principles to exploit the potential of biomass. This thesis explores three pivotal aspects needed to take advantage of the considerable untapped potential of the bioeconomy. The first case study aims to identify the determinants of the persisting low maize yields in northern Ghana, despite the introduction of a fertilizer subsidy program. The policy is largely regarded as an instrument to increase crop productivity and contribute to food security. The second empirical study explores the role of female-led market institutions in Ghana. Marketing is central to the development of the bioeconomy and as such, trader organizations have a key role to play the value chain. The third case study investigates, taking sugarcane as a case study example, how well Brazil, the world’s leader in sugarcane production, is positioned to realize the shift from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy (bioeconomy). The two case study countries Ghana and Brazil were chosen because of their comparable net primary productivity and pedo-climatic conditions, and because of their different stages in the realization of the bioeconomy. Two components are pivotal to the success of the bioeconomy: biomass and knowledge. Based on two case studies in Ghana, this thesis investigates first the efforts to increase maize productivity in the Guinea savanna and secondly explores the role of collective action groups as central actors to address the sustainability dimension of the bioeconomy. Brazil has successfully implemented pivotal aspects of the bioeconomy, especially in the sugarcane sector. For this reason it lends itself well to analyze the role of institutions and networks in the development of new processes and products. This study adopts a mixed methods approach to address three key aspects of the development of the bioeconomy: production, marketing, and the overall innovation system. Data collection and analysis included qualitative and quantitative methods from various disciplines. The findings are presented in three papers, which this cumulative thesis is composed of. The first paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach. A household survey, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions served to gather data on the socio-economic challenges of maize production in the Guinea savanna. Additionally, soil and fertilizer samples were analyzed to identify natural constraints and potential governance challenges. The results from this paper show that both socio-economic and biophysical parameters contribute to an improved understanding of site-specific challenges, resulting in low maize productivity in the Guinea savanna of Ghana. The second paper explores the role of female-led market associations across regions, ethnicities, and market typologies throughout Ghana. For this study a qualitative approach was chosen with participant observation and in-depth open-ended interviews conducted with traders, both in and out of leadership positions. The results could not empirically confirm the prevailing discourse on the monopolizing power of female-led market associations. The study rather finds that traders’ collective action provides vital safety-net measures for asset-poor women engaging in risky market activity. However, the public perception is challenging female trader agencies. The third paper analyzes the role of institutions and focuses on the innovation networks in the sugarcane sector in Brazil. The study combines the novel concept of ‘biomass value-webs’ with the established National Innovation System concept. For data collection, in-depth interviews and Net-Maps as a participatory tool were applied. The results illustrate the importance of innovation networks for Brazil to become a front-runner in the future bioeconomy. In particular, it emphasizes the importance of integrating national and international private sector organizations, and the need for incentives to foster collaboration with knowledge institutions. Based on these findings, one can conclude that strengthening the efforts to tailor site-specific solutions that consider the inter-disciplinary nature of crop production, marketing and development of processes is crucial to the bioeconomy. Overall, more attention to innovation networks is required to master the challenges of the bioeconomy and take full advantage of its opportunities.

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