Oliver Springate-Baginski
Researcher
Selected Publications
Other
Selected Publications
Other
2022
Forsyth, Tim; Springate-Baginski, Oliver
Who benefits from the agrarian transition under violent conflict? Evidence from Myanmar Journal Article
In: Journal of Rural Studies, vol. 95, pp. 160–172, 2022, ISSN: 0743-0167, (Funding Information: The research was funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), project: MK29 Working together for a better Kachin landscape. The authors wish to thank the Shalom (Nyein) Foundation (Myitkyina) and Friends of Wildlife (Yangon) for collaboration; Julia Fogerite and Kevin Woods for help in the early part of research; and three anonymous referees for valuable comments. Funding Information: The research was funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) , project: MK29 Working together for a better Kachin landscape. The authors wish to thank the Shalom (Nyein) Foundation (Myitkyina) and Friends of Wildlife (Yangon) for collaboration; Julia Fogerite and Kevin Woods for help in the early part of research; and three anonymous referees for valuable comments. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier Ltd).
@article{ecf70b7003f843d19e76ba659a581005,
title = {Who benefits from the agrarian transition under violent conflict? Evidence from Myanmar},
author = {Tim Forsyth and Oliver Springate-Baginski},
doi = {10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.09.003},
issn = {0743-0167},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-10-01},
journal = {Journal of Rural Studies},
volume = {95},
pages = {160–172},
publisher = {Elsevier},
abstract = {Agricultural commercialization and livelihood diversification have been proposed as ways to bring economic prosperity to rural zones after long-term violent conflict. Critics, however, argue that these market-based interventions exacerbate, rather than resolve, older social divisions, and that commercialization needs to be seen as part of agrarian transition processes. This paper contributes to the analysis of livelihoods-based interventions under violent conflict by presenting research from Kachin State, Myanmar. Drawing on 276 household surveys plus interviews, the paper argues that agrarian transition has only occurred within larger landholders who have been able to increase farm size by expanding commercial agriculture onto land historically used for shifting cultivation. Smallholders, however, have been unable to expand agriculture in this way, partly because of the reallocation of agricultural land to favored investors, including Chinese banana plantations. Meanwhile, access to non-agricultural livelihoods is largely restricted to laboring in Burmese army-controlled jade mines, or to traders arriving from outside the region. These findings indicate a different outcome to research elsewhere in Myanmar that suggests agrarian transition processes can benefit landless people; and instead supports evidence elsewhere in Asia that the agrarian transition can become “truncated” if smallholders do not participate. Making the agrarian transition inclusive requires greater attention to the ethnic, and other social barriers for participation by smallholders and rural landless, rather than facilitating commercialization alone.},
note = {Funding Information: The research was funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), project: MK29 Working together for a better Kachin landscape. The authors wish to thank the Shalom (Nyein) Foundation (Myitkyina) and Friends of Wildlife (Yangon) for collaboration; Julia Fogerite and Kevin Woods for help in the early part of research; and three anonymous referees for valuable comments. Funding Information: The research was funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) , project: MK29 Working together for a better Kachin landscape. The authors wish to thank the Shalom (Nyein) Foundation (Myitkyina) and Friends of Wildlife (Yangon) for collaboration; Julia Fogerite and Kevin Woods for help in the early part of research; and three anonymous referees for valuable comments. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier Ltd},
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Agricultural commercialization and livelihood diversification have been proposed as ways to bring economic prosperity to rural zones after long-term violent conflict. Critics, however, argue that these market-based interventions exacerbate, rather than resolve, older social divisions, and that commercialization needs to be seen as part of agrarian transition processes. This paper contributes to the analysis of livelihoods-based interventions under violent conflict by presenting research from Kachin State, Myanmar. Drawing on 276 household surveys plus interviews, the paper argues that agrarian transition has only occurred within larger landholders who have been able to increase farm size by expanding commercial agriculture onto land historically used for shifting cultivation. Smallholders, however, have been unable to expand agriculture in this way, partly because of the reallocation of agricultural land to favored investors, including Chinese banana plantations. Meanwhile, access to non-agricultural livelihoods is largely restricted to laboring in Burmese army-controlled jade mines, or to traders arriving from outside the region. These findings indicate a different outcome to research elsewhere in Myanmar that suggests agrarian transition processes can benefit landless people; and instead supports evidence elsewhere in Asia that the agrarian transition can become “truncated” if smallholders do not participate. Making the agrarian transition inclusive requires greater attention to the ethnic, and other social barriers for participation by smallholders and rural landless, rather than facilitating commercialization alone.
2020
Corbera, Esteve; Martin, Adrian; Springate-Baginski, Oliver; Villaseñor, Adrián
Sowing the seeds of sustainable rural livelihoods? An assessment of Participatory Forest Management through REDD+ in Tanzania Journal Article
In: Land Use Policy, vol. 97, 2020, ISSN: 0264-8377.
@article{16dfc488cf184834a939c96a68d1f83b,
title = {Sowing the seeds of sustainable rural livelihoods? An assessment of Participatory Forest Management through REDD+ in Tanzania},
author = {Esteve Corbera and Adrian Martin and Oliver Springate-Baginski and Adrián Villaseñor},
doi = {10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.09.037},
issn = {0264-8377},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-09-01},
journal = {Land Use Policy},
volume = {97},
publisher = {Elsevier},
abstract = {Participatory forest management (PFM) initiatives have emerged worldwide for a range of aims including to improve forest governance, enhance resource conservation and to increase rural people’s access to and benefits from forest resources. Some of these initiatives have also received climate finance support to enhance their impact on mitigation. However, their effects on forest governance and livelihoods are complex and remain poorly studied. In this article, we address this gap by analysing governance and livelihood changes in a PFM initiative in Tanzania that has received funding as a REDD+ pilot site. Based on qualitative governance analysis and quantitative livelihood panel data (2011–2014) that compares villages and households within and outside the project, we find that improvements to forest governance are substantial in project villages compared to control villages, while changes in income have been important but statistically insignificant, and driven by a regional sesame cash crop boom unrelated to enhanced forestry revenues. Focusing on whether PFM had enhanced other wealth indicators including household conditions and durable assets, our analysis shows again no significant differences between participant and control villages, although the participant villages do have, on average, a greater level of durable assets. Overall, our findings are positive regarding forest governance improvements but inconclusive regarding livelihood effects, which at least in the short term seem to benefit more from agricultural intensification than forestry activities, whose benefits might become more apparent over a longer time period. In conclusion we emphasize the need for moving towards longer term monitoring efforts, improving understandings of local dynamics of change, particularly at a regional rather than community level, and defining the most appropriate outcome variables and cost-effective systems of data collection or optimization of existing datasets if we are to better capture the complex impacts of PFM initiatives worldwide.},
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Participatory forest management (PFM) initiatives have emerged worldwide for a range of aims including to improve forest governance, enhance resource conservation and to increase rural people’s access to and benefits from forest resources. Some of these initiatives have also received climate finance support to enhance their impact on mitigation. However, their effects on forest governance and livelihoods are complex and remain poorly studied. In this article, we address this gap by analysing governance and livelihood changes in a PFM initiative in Tanzania that has received funding as a REDD+ pilot site. Based on qualitative governance analysis and quantitative livelihood panel data (2011–2014) that compares villages and households within and outside the project, we find that improvements to forest governance are substantial in project villages compared to control villages, while changes in income have been important but statistically insignificant, and driven by a regional sesame cash crop boom unrelated to enhanced forestry revenues. Focusing on whether PFM had enhanced other wealth indicators including household conditions and durable assets, our analysis shows again no significant differences between participant and control villages, although the participant villages do have, on average, a greater level of durable assets. Overall, our findings are positive regarding forest governance improvements but inconclusive regarding livelihood effects, which at least in the short term seem to benefit more from agricultural intensification than forestry activities, whose benefits might become more apparent over a longer time period. In conclusion we emphasize the need for moving towards longer term monitoring efforts, improving understandings of local dynamics of change, particularly at a regional rather than community level, and defining the most appropriate outcome variables and cost-effective systems of data collection or optimization of existing datasets if we are to better capture the complex impacts of PFM initiatives worldwide.
2017
Prescott, Graham W.; Sutherland, William J.; Aguirre, Daniel; Baird, Matthew; Bowman, Vicky; Brunner, Jake; Connette, Grant M.; Cosier, Martin; Dapice, David; Alban, Jose Don T. De; Diment, Alex; Fogerite, Julia; Fox, Jefferson; Hlaing, Win; Htun, Saw; Hurd, Jack; Connette, Katherine LaJeunesse; Lasmana, Felicia; Lim, Cheng Ling; Lynam, Antony; Maung, Aye Chan; McCarron, Benjamin; McCarthy, John F.; McShea, William J.; Momberg, Frank; Mon, Myat Su; Myint, Than; Oberndorf, Robert; Oo, Thaung Naing; Phelps, Jacob; Rao, Madhu; Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich; Speechly, Hugh; Springate-Baginski, Oliver; Steinmetz, Robert; Talbott, Kirk; Than, Maung Maung; (RECOFTC), Tint Lwin Thaung; Thawng, Salai Cung Lian; Thein, Kyaw Min; Thein, Shwe; Tizard, Robert; Whitten, Tony; Williams, Guy; Wilson, Trevor; Woods, Kevin; Ziegler, Alan D.; Zrust, Michal; Webb, Edward L.
Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar Journal Article
In: Conservation Biology, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 1257–1270, 2017, ISSN: 0888-8892.
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title = {Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar},
author = {Graham W. Prescott and William J. Sutherland and Daniel Aguirre and Matthew Baird and Vicky Bowman and Jake Brunner and Grant M. Connette and Martin Cosier and David Dapice and Jose Don T. De Alban and Alex Diment and Julia Fogerite and Jefferson Fox and Win Hlaing and Saw Htun and Jack Hurd and Katherine LaJeunesse Connette and Felicia Lasmana and Cheng Ling Lim and Antony Lynam and Aye Chan Maung and Benjamin McCarron and John F. McCarthy and William J. McShea and Frank Momberg and Myat Su Mon and Than Myint and Robert Oberndorf and Thaung Naing Oo and Jacob Phelps and Madhu Rao and Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt and Hugh Speechly and Oliver Springate-Baginski and Robert Steinmetz and Kirk Talbott and Maung Maung Than and Tint Lwin Thaung (RECOFTC) and Salai Cung Lian Thawng and Kyaw Min Thein and Shwe Thein and Robert Tizard and Tony Whitten and Guy Williams and Trevor Wilson and Kevin Woods and Alan D. Ziegler and Michal Zrust and Edward L. Webb},
doi = {10.1111/cobi.13021},
issn = {0888-8892},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-12-01},
journal = {Conservation Biology},
volume = {31},
number = {6},
pages = {1257–1270},
publisher = {Wiley},
abstract = {Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long-running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon-scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land-tenure insecurity, large-scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure- and energy-project planning, and reforming land-tenure and environmental-protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.},
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Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long-running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon-scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar’s forests, including internal conflict, land-tenure insecurity, large-scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure- and energy-project planning, and reforming land-tenure and environmental-protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar’s social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.
2013
Springate-Baginski, Oliver; Sarin, Madhu; Reddy, M. Gopinath
Resisting rights: Forest bureaucracy and the tenure transition in India Journal Article
In: Small-Scale Forestry, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 107–124, 2013, ISSN: 1873-7617.
@article{9ceb6312525a4c9d87330e7e1bc323fc,
title = {Resisting rights: Forest bureaucracy and the tenure transition in India},
author = {Oliver Springate-Baginski and Madhu Sarin and M. Gopinath Reddy},
doi = {10.1007/s11842-012-9219-x},
issn = {1873-7617},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-03-01},
journal = {Small-Scale Forestry},
volume = {12},
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pages = {107–124},
publisher = {Springer},
abstract = {A global ‘forest tenure transition’ is underway, with declining state tenure of previously appropriated forested landscapes and increasing citizen tenure. However, at the local level the process involves complex political-economic struggles with the incumbent power holders. This paper examines these struggles, taking the example of India’s Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (or simply Forest Rights Act). Considering the implementation processes in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the extent to which rural people in forest areas have been able to access the provisions of the Act is assessed. Based on fieldwork from 2010, weaknesses are identified in the way legislated rights are being secured, and the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department staffs are found to obstruct the democratic mandate for reform. It is concluded that the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department is operating beyond the normal processes of democratic control and oversight in a bid to retain its hegemony.},
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A global ‘forest tenure transition’ is underway, with declining state tenure of previously appropriated forested landscapes and increasing citizen tenure. However, at the local level the process involves complex political-economic struggles with the incumbent power holders. This paper examines these struggles, taking the example of India’s Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (or simply Forest Rights Act). Considering the implementation processes in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the extent to which rural people in forest areas have been able to access the provisions of the Act is assessed. Based on fieldwork from 2010, weaknesses are identified in the way legislated rights are being secured, and the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department staffs are found to obstruct the democratic mandate for reform. It is concluded that the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department is operating beyond the normal processes of democratic control and oversight in a bid to retain its hegemony.
2011
Reddy, M. Gopinath; Kumar, K Anil; Rao, P Trinadha; Springate-Baginski, Oliver
Issues related to implementation of the forest rights act in Andhra Pradesh Journal Article
In: Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 46, no. 18, pp. 73–81, 2011, ISSN: 0012-9976.
@article{b2a1790cb7874109a189e59a71b29fd2,
title = {Issues related to implementation of the forest rights act in Andhra Pradesh},
author = {M. Gopinath Reddy and K Anil Kumar and P Trinadha Rao and Oliver Springate-Baginski},
issn = {0012-9976},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-04-30},
journal = {Economic and Political Weekly},
volume = {46},
number = {18},
pages = {73–81},
publisher = {Economic and Political Weekly},
abstract = {The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 has been passed by Parliament to address the injustice done to tribal and adivasi communities and other forest dwellers. It confers legal entitlements on the lands they were cultivating for centuries. This paper looks at various issues with regard to implementation of the Act in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It investigates why the Act emerged in relation to AP. It also reviews the range of forest rights deprivations and how they came about. The authors consider the likely livelihood impact of such a pro-poor institutional reform on the people of the state.},
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The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 has been passed by Parliament to address the injustice done to tribal and adivasi communities and other forest dwellers. It confers legal entitlements on the lands they were cultivating for centuries. This paper looks at various issues with regard to implementation of the Act in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It investigates why the Act emerged in relation to AP. It also reviews the range of forest rights deprivations and how they came about. The authors consider the likely livelihood impact of such a pro-poor institutional reform on the people of the state.
2010
Corbera, E
Mexico Book Chapter
In: Springate-Baginski, O; Wollenberg, E (Ed.): REDD, forest governance and rural livelihoods. The emerging agenda, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, 2010.
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2007
Springate-Baginski, Oliver; Blaikie, Piers (Ed.)
Forests People and Power: The Political Ecology of Reform in South Asia Book
Routledge, United States, 2007, ISBN: 9781844073474.
@book{f07d0a1b0823472e826130bf40c2ef69,
title = {Forests People and Power: The Political Ecology of Reform in South Asia},
editor = {Oliver Springate-Baginski and Piers Blaikie},
isbn = {9781844073474},
year = {2007},
date = {2007-06-29},
publisher = {Routledge},
address = {United States},
abstract = {With tens of millions of hectares and hundreds of millions of lives in the balance, the debate over who should control South Asia?s forests is of tremendous political significance. This book provides an insightful and thorough assessment of important forest management transitions currently underway.? MARK POFFENBERGER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY FORESTRY INTERNATIONAL ?The contributions in this volume not only breathe life into the fi eld of writing and analysis related to forests, they do so on the strength of extraordinarily insightful research. Kudos to Springate-Baginski and Blaikie for providing us with a set of thoroughly researched, provocative studies that should be required reading not only for those interested in community forestry in south Asia, but in resource governance anywhere.? ARUN AGRAWAL, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, USA ?Makes a significant contribution to theory and practice of participatory forest management.? YAM MALLA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, REGIONAL COMMUNITY FORESTRY TRAINING CENTER FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC, BANGKOK ?This excellent and timely book provides thought-provoking insights to the issues of power and politics in forestry and the difficulties of transforming age-old structures that circumscribe the access of the poor to forests and their resources; it challenges our assumptions of the benefits of participatory forest management and the role of forestry in poverty reduction. It should be of interest to policy-makers and to all those who have been involved with the struggle of transforming forestry over the decades.? DR MARY HOBLEY, HOBLEY SHIELDS ASSOCIATES (NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING CONSULTANCY) ?A rare combination of extensive field study, social science insights and policy studies ? will be of immense value? DR N. C. SAXENA, MEMBER OF NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA In recent decades ?participatory? approaches to forest management have been introduced around the world. This book assesses their implementation in the highly politicized environments of India and Nepal. The authors critically examine the policy, implementation processes and causal factors affecting livelihood impacts. Considering narratives and field practice, with data from over 60 study villages and over 1000 household interviews, the book demonstrates why particular field outcomes have occurred and why policy reform often proves so difficult. Research findings on which the book is based are already influencing policy in India and Nepal, and the research and analysis have great relevance to forestry management in a wide range of countries. Published with DFID.},
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With tens of millions of hectares and hundreds of millions of lives in the balance, the debate over who should control South Asia?s forests is of tremendous political significance. This book provides an insightful and thorough assessment of important forest management transitions currently underway.? MARK POFFENBERGER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY FORESTRY INTERNATIONAL ?The contributions in this volume not only breathe life into the fi eld of writing and analysis related to forests, they do so on the strength of extraordinarily insightful research. Kudos to Springate-Baginski and Blaikie for providing us with a set of thoroughly researched, provocative studies that should be required reading not only for those interested in community forestry in south Asia, but in resource governance anywhere.? ARUN AGRAWAL, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, USA ?Makes a significant contribution to theory and practice of participatory forest management.? YAM MALLA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, REGIONAL COMMUNITY FORESTRY TRAINING CENTER FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC, BANGKOK ?This excellent and timely book provides thought-provoking insights to the issues of power and politics in forestry and the difficulties of transforming age-old structures that circumscribe the access of the poor to forests and their resources; it challenges our assumptions of the benefits of participatory forest management and the role of forestry in poverty reduction. It should be of interest to policy-makers and to all those who have been involved with the struggle of transforming forestry over the decades.? DR MARY HOBLEY, HOBLEY SHIELDS ASSOCIATES (NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING CONSULTANCY) ?A rare combination of extensive field study, social science insights and policy studies ? will be of immense value? DR N. C. SAXENA, MEMBER OF NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA In recent decades ?participatory? approaches to forest management have been introduced around the world. This book assesses their implementation in the highly politicized environments of India and Nepal. The authors critically examine the policy, implementation processes and causal factors affecting livelihood impacts. Considering narratives and field practice, with data from over 60 study villages and over 1000 household interviews, the book demonstrates why particular field outcomes have occurred and why policy reform often proves so difficult. Research findings on which the book is based are already influencing policy in India and Nepal, and the research and analysis have great relevance to forestry management in a wide range of countries. Published with DFID.
2004
Reddy, V. Ratna; Reddy, M. Gopinath; Galab, S.; Soussan, John; Springate-Baginski, Oliver
Participatory watershed development in India: Can it sustain rural livelihoods? Journal Article
In: Development and Change, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 297–326, 2004, ISSN: 0012-155X.
@article{23c02f2466e74eec940451b1cd93e1e1,
title = {Participatory watershed development in India: Can it sustain rural livelihoods?},
author = {V. Ratna Reddy and M. Gopinath Reddy and S. Galab and John Soussan and Oliver Springate-Baginski},
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abstract = {The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of policy interventions through watershed development (WD) on the livelihoods of the rural communities. This is done by assessing the programme in the context of a sustainable rural livelihoods framework, that is, looking at its impact on the five types of capital assets and strategies required for the means of living. The article also examines the vulnerability and stability of these capital assets, as well as analysing which people participate in the programme and enhance their livelihoods through sharing its benefits. In the light of the analysis, it is argued that watershed development holds the potential for enhanced livelihood security even in geo-climatic conditions where the watershed cannot bring direct irrigation benefits on a large scale. In such fragile environments, however, watershed development is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for sustaining rural livelihoods. While the focus of watershed development is primarily on strengthening the ecological base such as water bodies (including traditional tanks), grazing lands and wastelands, it should be complemented with other programmes which focus on landless poor households in order to make it pro-poor. In the context of low rainfall regions where improvement in irrigation facilities is slow, agriculture alone cannot support the communities. Policies and programmes should aim at creating an environment for diverse livelihood activities, which are the choice of the household rather than distress activities.},
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The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of policy interventions through watershed development (WD) on the livelihoods of the rural communities. This is done by assessing the programme in the context of a sustainable rural livelihoods framework, that is, looking at its impact on the five types of capital assets and strategies required for the means of living. The article also examines the vulnerability and stability of these capital assets, as well as analysing which people participate in the programme and enhance their livelihoods through sharing its benefits. In the light of the analysis, it is argued that watershed development holds the potential for enhanced livelihood security even in geo-climatic conditions where the watershed cannot bring direct irrigation benefits on a large scale. In such fragile environments, however, watershed development is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for sustaining rural livelihoods. While the focus of watershed development is primarily on strengthening the ecological base such as water bodies (including traditional tanks), grazing lands and wastelands, it should be complemented with other programmes which focus on landless poor households in order to make it pro-poor. In the context of low rainfall regions where improvement in irrigation facilities is slow, agriculture alone cannot support the communities. Policies and programmes should aim at creating an environment for diverse livelihood activities, which are the choice of the household rather than distress activities.
