Transformation as system innovation: insights from Nepal’s five decades of community forestry development

ABSTRACT

Studies of sustainability transitions and transformational change are common in energy and transport sectors. However, there is limited research on how these transformational change processes play out in the natural resources sector, particularly in developing economies. This paper seeks to address this gap, with a case study of the community forestry system in Nepal that has, over the last four decades, reversed Himalayan land degradation and contributed to community livelihoods. The case illustrates comprehensive changes in forest management practices and governance over four decades. Central to this was a ‘thinking movement’ of development agencies, activists and researchers that opened up learning spaces and engage conflicting stakeholders in action-oriented dialogues. While transformation can never be pre-engineered, this study suggests that investment in strengthening locally engaged research capability could be a key way of catalyzing sustainability transitions, both as a continuous process of evolution and transformative shifts during the crisis and political opportunity.

KEYWORDS:

• Natural resources management
• system innovation
• transformation
• Nepal
• action and knoweldge
• environmental transition
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Disclosure statement

The authors acknowledge the financial assistance of the CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council and CSIRO strategic investment project funding for a project titled ‘Changing the conversation on agri-food system innovation’. We acknowledge Jeroen Dijkman for his suggestion that Nepal community forestry would make a useful case study of transformational change. Liekwise, we acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped greatly in strengthening the paper. Finally, the first co-author would also like to acknowledge two research proejcts from which he drew current insights into community forestry in Nepal: Governing Climate Resilient Futures: 1) ‘Gender, Justice and Conflict Resolution in Resource Management’ (JUSTCLIME), funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsradet Diarienummer: 2018-05866); 2) EnLiFT research project, Enhancing Livelihoods and Food Security from Agroforestry and Community Forestry in Nepal, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (FST/2011/076).

Notes

1 This section elaborates an earlier conceptualisation of systems innovation and transformation phases presented in Hall and Dijkman 2019.

2 One study found that forest products derived through community forestry account for 20–25% of mean household income for 50 households surveyed in one middle hill district, regardless of wealth class (Arun 2004).

3 Key government guidelines included: community forestry guidelines 2009 and revised in 2014.

4 For example, pro-poor community forest management practices emerged from Nawalparasi district in western Nepal, while a cash-earning agroforestry model emerged in east Nepal.

5 Examples of intellectually engaged practitioners and pioneers include: Don Gilmour was an Australian expert who presented and demonstrated a philosophy of community forestry in practice. TBS Mahat was Nepal government forest official who worked with Gilmour, and took risk to go beyond the mandate of the government to try out new ideas in practice. Nil Bhandari is a local community leader who championed the cause of building local institution. Kaji Shrestha is an aid worker and civil society activist and trainer who passionately engaged in the development of methodology and process of community forestry at the community level. Bharat Pokharel is a second-generation forest official, aid worker and public intellectual with enormous capacity to communicate and influence the idea and impact of community forestry. Based on some empirical research, he famously said ‘CFUGs undertake the conservation and development work of 16 Ministries of the government of Nepal’. The co-author of this paper and colleagues set up Forest Action Nepal in 2000, a research group to analyse and facilitate policy-practice in the forest sector.