"Degradation of natural resources has become a global problem that threatens the livelihood of millions of poor people. Many promising technologies for natural resource management are available to address these problems, but farmers and others often fail to adopt them. Why is this? Although many factors can be identified, lack of secure property rights and collective action deserve greater attention from policy makers and technology developers.

Economists who analyze household decisionmaking allocation have traditionally assumed that the household acts as a single unit. They assume that there exists one decisionmaker whose preferences form the basis of household welfare and that all household resources are effectively pooled. This approach is known as the “unitary model,” the “common preference model,” or the “joint family utility model,” depending on the study consulted.

This book synthesizes IFPRI's recent work on the role of gender in household decisionmaking in developing countries, provides evidence on how reducing gender gaps can contribute to improved food security, health, and nutrition in developing countries, and gives examples of interventions that actually work to reduce gender disparities. It is an accessible, easy-to-read synthesis of the gender research that IFPRI has undertaken in the 1990s.

This study explores the impact of changes in environmental conditions on intrahousehold labor allocation to the collection of environmental goods such as fuelwood and leaf fodder for a sample of rural Nepali households. Using household-level panel data collected in 1982 and 1997, the study finds that household collection time significantly increases with measures of environmental resource scarcity, and that the increase appears to come almost equally from men and women.

This paper examines the effects of tenure on tree management at a community level. First, several important conceptual issues arising from this particular meso-level focus are discussed. Second, a description of the key tenure and tree management issues in Uganda and Malawi is presented. In each case, data representing changes in land use and tree cover between the 1960-70s and 1990s are analyzed. In both countries, there has been significant conversion of land from woodlands to agriculture. Tree cover has been more or less maintained over time in Uganda but has decreased in Malawi.

The collective model of the household predicts that bargaining power determines the share of resources allocated to an individual within the household. The concept of bargaining power is elusive, however. It is perhaps useful at this point to outline the possible determinants of bargaining power, while not making any claims to measure power itself.

La dégradation des ressources naturelles est devenue un problème mondial qui menace les moyens d’existence de millions de pauvres. De nombreuses technologies très prometteuses sont actuellement disponibles, notamment en matière de gestion des ressources naturelles, mais les exploitants agricoles et les autres intervenants hésitent souvent à les employer. Pourquoi? Bien que de nombreux facteurs puissent l’expliquer, l’absence de droits de propriété garantis et l’insuffisance d’actions collectives devrait retenir l’attention des décideurs et des développeurs
de technologie.

Recientemente, se ha renovado el interés en fomentar el desarrollo agrícola sostenible unido a una búsqueda de políticas e innovaciones institucionales que lo favorezcan. Los pagos por servicios ambientales (PSA) son un instrumento normativo relativamente nuevo y diseñado para incentivar la provisión de externalidades positivas para el medio ambiente. Este artículo pretende evaluar la experiencia y el potencial de los programas de PSA en apoyo del desarrollo agrícola sostenible.

Axel C. Dourojeanni, es un experto Internacional en Gestión Integrada de Cuencas y Recursos Hídricos. Actualmente se desempeña como Senior Consultant de la Fundación Chile en los temas de su especialidad. Su experiencia en el tema de gestión de cuencas, recursos hídricos, recursos naturales y ambiente, lo ha llevado a asesorar las políticas hídricas en numerosos países de la región por mas de 30 años. Es author de numerosas publicaciones en temas de manejo de cuencas, gestión de recursos hídricos y de recursos naturales en general.

This guidebook provides conceptual, legal and practical tools and resources to help civil society organizations guide communities through the process of documenting customary tenure at the local level. It also provides suggestions for how to build on the momentum generated by the documentation process to develop strategies and actions to defend, strengthen and promote customary rights at community, regional and national level. The guidebook was developed out of practical experience and conversations with local groups in Myanmar that have been documenting customary tenure.

The « Environment and Natural Resources Code of Cambodia » (Sixth Draft – – 20 November 2016) is a very extensive proposed law (535 pages !) which will have, if adopted, major impacts on many aspects of Cambodian development (Mines, Energy, Urban planning, etc..) but is particularly important for the management of Protected Areas and of Forests and Fisheries. The code has been elaborated by a panel of experts and several working groups led by Vishnu Law Group. A public national consultation has been organized by MOE in Dec 2016.