How by-laws and collective action influence farmers’ adoption of agroforestry and natural resource management technologies: lessons from Zambia

Abstract

Customary practices such as bush fires and the browsing by livestock, and the absence of land property rights are important institutional constraints to effective up-scaling of natural resource management (NRM) including agroforestry technologies in southern Africa. Through collective action by communities in eastern Zambia, and supported by-laws enacted by traditional leaders to formalize them, the conflicts arising over resources in the communities and the quest to protect the interests of the different segments of the society were addressed. This paper investigates the process through which the by-laws were formulated and implemented, and evaluates their effectiveness to achieve the desired outcome. It then used a sample of 196 households to assess the impacts of the by-laws on household and social groups in the community. Results show that the by-laws have led to a remarkable reduction in the incidence of fire outbreak and grazing. It also highlights how traditional institutions can provide important entry points for local policy interventions on NRM in rural communities. The by-laws impacted positively on women-headed households and those who practice agroforestry, but children (boys) and livestock owners were disadvantaged. Lessons learnt from the study include: (i) the distribution of the benefits (or costs) associated with natural resource commons among different interest groups in the communities influence the effectiveness of by-laws on such resources; (ii) the dynamics of power structure existing in communities are critical determinants of the effectiveness of local policy interventions on NRM; (iii) privatizing seasonal commons is an important factor for designing policy interventions on NRM in rural communities. It is concluded that in addition to the technological characteristics of NRM interventions, local institutional arrangements and power structures existing in rural communities, and the pattern of distribution of benefits (or costs) of an NRM technology are important factors that influence their widespread adoption by farmers.

Keywords:

• Adoption
• collective action
• property right
• impact assessment
• policy dialogue
• traditional institutions
• governance
• community participation
• livestock

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance provided by the European Union (EU), Rockefeller Foundation, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and and for the protocol cum logistic support of the Government of Zambia to support the research and policy dialogues held in Zambia over several years. We would like to thank our research assistants, Webby Kanjipite and John Madalitso Ngulube for field data assistance. The work and conclusions of this study do not in any way represent the official position of the organizations mentioned above.

Notes

1. In the context of this paper, by-laws are interpreted to mean a rule or law established by an organization or community to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authority.

2. The Forum later metamorphosed into the Adaptive research and Development Network which is a more permanent and better structured Organization.

3. Although the absolute powers that traditional authorities in the country enjoyed in pre-colonial past has been degraded by successive political governments in the pre-and post-independence era, but they retain much respect and powers to initiate sanctions.

4. Although based in Zambia, the matrilineal paramount chief also has traditional jurisdiction over all the Chewas communities and their traditional institutions in Malawi and Mozambique.

5. Historically, fire is used as a land management tool in Zambia, but there is a discord between official fire policies and actual indigenous fire practices (Eriksen 2007). The prevalence of fire has over time created a degree of fire dependency for the growth, production, regeneration and coexistence of miombo species. Although, much controversy still surrounds discussions on fire utilization and the sustainability of indigenous land management practices, it is generally agreed that frequent uncontrolled fires are harmful both to vegetation and soil (White 1983; Chidumayo 2002) and biodiversity (Sileshi & Mafongoya 2006).