Dialogue to address the roots of resource competition: Lessons for policy and practice

Conflict management is an intrinsic element of natural resource management, and becomes increasingly important amid growing pressure on natural resources from local uses, as well as from external drivers such as climate change and international investment. If policymakers and practitioners aim to truly improve livelihood resilience and reduce vulnerabilities of poor rural households, issues of resource competition and conflict management cannot be ignored. This synthesis report summarizes outcomes and lessons from three ecoregions: Lake Victoria, with a focus on Uganda; Lake Kariba, with a focus on Zambia; and Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Partners used a common approach to stakeholder engagement and action research that we call “Collaborating for Resilience”. In each region, partners assisted local stakeholders in developing a shared understanding of risks and opportunities, weighing alternative actions, developing action plans, and evaluating and learning from the outcomes. These experiences demonstrate that investing in capacities for conflict management is practical and can contribute to broader improvements in resource governance.

Some observations on the problem of marine timber destroying organisms of Indian coasts

In India the chief marine timber boring organisms are 2 species of Martesia, 28 species of shipworms, 4 species and a variety of Sphaeroma and 9 species of Limnoria besides bacteria and fungi. The occurrence, abundance and activity of the various species of borers show remarkable variations and fluctuations in the different harbours of India, each harbour or area having its own dominant set of species and an assemblage of less important forms. These species have their own characteristic preferences, life history and seasons of attachment and a scheme evolved for one locality may prove ineffective for another. Through a delicate and complex ecological adjustment the borers occurring in a locality have reached an interrelationship reducing interspecific and intraspecific competition. The seasons of settlement of the dominant borers in the different harbours of India are indicated. The need for a detailed biological enquiry is stressed.

Niche measures and feeding strategies of Barbodes gonionotus Bleeker and Oreochromis spp. from a ricefield in Bangladesh

Intra-and interspecific virtual niche measures and feeding strategies of Barbodes gonionotus and Oreochromis spp. were studied from a rice field in Bangladesh. Appropriateness and ease of interpretation of different indices were evaluated. Small sizes of both species had a relatively wider dietary breadth and used many of the resource categories available to them than the large size groups, though none were generalist feeder. The dietary overlap of large B. gonionotus on the small was greater than the reverse, but biologically insignificant. While the dietary overlap of large Oreochromis spp. on the small was significantly greater. Interspecific dietary width was relatively broader for B. gonionotus than Oreochromis spp. and overlap of B. gonionotus on Oreochromis spp. was significantly greater than the reverse. Evidence of significant intraspecific dietary overlap between the two sizes of tilapia reflects strong competition and cautions for mixed-size stocking in rice-fish system. Besides, there seem fewer opportunities for habitat segregation between B. gonionotus and Oreochromis spp., due to the significant interspecific dietary overlap of the former on the latter in rice-fish system. Tilapia specialized on periphytic detrital aggregate while silver barb tended to consume aquatic macrophytes and molluscs. Small sizes of B. gonionotus should be preferred for rice-fish integration over the Oreochromis spp. due to their broader niche width and pronounced ontogenetic dietary shifts with the aging of the stock.

Analysis of competition in the wholesale and retail markets for fish in Kisumu, Kenya

This study analyses competition in the wholesale and retail fish marketing system in Kisumu, which is Kenya's largest fish market. It is based on cross sectional and time series primary data collected in a survey involving 88 retailers and 47 wholesale traders of fish in the town. Stratified random sampling method was used in selecting the respondents, Concentration ratios, Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients are derived and evaluated for both markets. They demonstrate that market shares are unequally distributed among the wholesalers and retailers. The Gini coefficients are 0.37 and 0.45 for the whole and retail markets respectively. Based on a Gini coefficient cut-off level of 0.4, it is concluded that the wholesale fish market exhibits effective competition while the retail outlet has oligopolistic tendencies. The implication of this level of competition to price efficiency is discussed. Intervention measures to enhance competition in the market are recommended.