Description of work

Renewable natural resources remain of great importance to West African farming, grazing and livelihood systems. They are of particular significance for poorer households, migrant populations, women, and mobile user groups (such as herders, fisherfolk). Such resources (pastures, water, fish, trees, wild fruits, etc.) are managed on a collective basis, in ways which differ substantially from a household's cultivated land. Collective management of a resource in limited supply requires a set of rules which define who has access to these resources, when, and for what purposes. Rights are usually managed and allocated to people according to their membership of a particular social group, rather than to specific individuals. There is much uncertainty and confusion regarding the legal status of such collectively managed resources, since governments have usually asserted their rights of ownership and management. Yet they have rarely been able to exercise such powers in practice, leading to a situation of largely uncontrolled open access. In areas of rising land scarcity and increased competition, renewable natural resources are coming under increasing pressure and forcing people to develop strategies either individually or collectively to regulate access, regardless of their formal legal status

This WP will examine the changing status and availability of such collectively managed resources, the extent to which individuals are claiming rights over them, and the ease with which secondary rights users can gain access to these resources. The research work will be carried out in the same field sites as WP1, in order to complement research on institutions regulating access to farmland. In addition, research will be undertaken in places where local groups have tried to set up new rules for management of collective resources (often supported by a development project or NGO). A number of institutional models have developed for managing collective resources, usually on a pilot basis (such as local conventions, rural wood markets). These provide a diverse set of arrangements combining different degrees of local and state power and responsibilities, and based to a greater or lesser extent on 'customary' management institutions.