People's participation in natural resource management

Farmers' participation has become a buzzword in rural development literature in general, and in natural resources management in particular. After blueprint approaches to natural resource management dominated development projects and programmes for decades, policy makers and practitioners have recently „(re?)discovered“ that rural people have their own perception of development and a wealth of ideas and experiences that are highly relevant. Efforts are now being made in India and elsewhere to increase rural peoples' stake in development projects through more participation during all stages, i. e., from planning through implementation and monitoring to evaluation. While the overall concept of participation is fairly well understood and documented, little has been done to understand how participation influences project performance. What are the mechanisms that lead to differences in project impact? How do rural people, in particular farmers, perceive project impact and project approach, i. e., in the way a project or programme is designed and implemented? This book tries to address these questions in relation to watershed management projects in South India. During two years of fieldwork, farmers' perception of project approach and project impact was analysed in a range of watershed management projects, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. In collaboration with both governmental and non-governmental agencies, strategies associated with project success were identified and recommendations for implementing these strategies were elaborated.