Building coalitions, creating change: An agenda for gender transformative research in agricultural development

The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) has developed its Gender Research in Development Strategy centered on a transformative approach. Translating this strategy into actual research and development practice poses a considerable challenge, as not much (documented) experience exists in the agricultural sector to draw on, and significant innovation is required. A process of transformative change requires reflecting on multiple facets and dimensions simultaneously. This working paper is a collation of think pieces, structured around broad the mes and topics, reflecting on what works (and what does not) in the application of gender transformative approaches in agriculture and other sectors, and seeking to stimulate a discussion on the way forward for CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) and other programs to build organizational capacities and partnerships.

Ex-ante assessment of integrated aquaculture-agriculture adoption and impact in Southern Malawi

There are increasing requirements for impact assessment by development partners in order to increase the accountability and effectiveness of research and development projects. Impact assessment research has been dominated by conventional economic methods. This context challenges agricultural research organizations to develop and apply alternative impact assessment methods incorporating economic, social, and environmental impact components. In this study, we use the Tradeoff Analysis for Multi-Dimensional Impact Assessment (TOA-MD) model to evaluate the impact of integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) adoption in Malawi. The study demonstrated that with a minimal data set, the TOA-MD model can be applied to predict and assess the adoption rates of new technologies and practices as well as their economic and non-economic impacts.

Ex-ante impact evaluation: case studies from Malawi, Bangladesh and Ghana

This document presents ex-ante impact evaluations of research for development projects related to aquaculture in Bangladesh, Malawi and Ghana. The Ghana chapter also includes an ex-ante evaluation of a fisheries project. The case studies utilized preliminary versions of guidelines developed specifically for ex-ante evaluations of aquaculture and fisheries projects. The guidelines, found in A Practical Guide for Ex-Ante Impact Evaluations in Fisheries and Aquaculture, are designed to provide an approach for a qualitative examination of the potential for a project to deliver impacts. Using a conceptual framework based on the outcome focus of results-based management, the guidelines stress careful examination of the setting, internal consistency, a sound theory of change, and an examination of stakeholders’ interests and potential partnerships. The case study reports illustrate the variability with which the guidelines may be interpreted and applied. The different teams, operating with limited time and budget that constrained the collection of new data, were forced to utilize existing secondary data and information and consult with key stakeholders to complete their analyses. The varying levels of reporting reflect the differences among the cases in the amounts of existing information and variety of stakeholders potentially involved in the projects being examined.

EcoGIS – GIS tools for ecosystem approaches to fisheries management

Executive Summary: The EcoGIS project was launched in September 2004 to investigate how Geographic Information Systems (GIS), marine data, and custom analysis tools can better enable fisheries scientists and managers to adopt Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries Management (EAFM). EcoGIS is a collaborative effort between NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and four regional Fishery Management Councils. The project has focused on four priority areas: Fishing Catch and Effort Analysis, Area Characterization, Bycatch Analysis, and Habitat Interactions. Of these four functional areas, the project team first focused on developing a working prototype for catch and effort analysis: the Fishery Mapper Tool. This ArcGIS extension creates time-and-area summarized maps of fishing catch and effort from logbook, observer, or fishery-independent survey data sets. Source data may come from Oracle, Microsoft Access, or other file formats. Feedback from beta-testers of the Fishery Mapper was used to debug the prototype, enhance performance, and add features. This report describes the four priority functional areas, the development of the Fishery Mapper tool, and several themes that emerged through the parallel evolution of the EcoGIS project, the concept and implementation of the broader field of Ecosystem Approaches to Management (EAM), data management practices, and other EAM toolsets. In addition, a set of six succinct recommendations are proposed on page 29. One major conclusion from this work is that there is no single “super-tool” to enable Ecosystem Approaches to Management; as such, tools should be developed for specific purposes with attention given to interoperability and automation. Future work should be coordinated with other GIS development projects in order to provide “value added” and minimize duplication of efforts. In addition to custom tools, the development of cross-cutting Regional Ecosystem Spatial Databases will enable access to quality data to support the analyses required by EAM. GIS tools will be useful in developing Integrated Ecosystem Assessments (IEAs) and providing pre- and post-processing capabilities for spatially-explicit ecosystem models. Continued funding will enable the EcoGIS project to develop GIS tools that are immediately applicable to today’s needs. These tools will enable simplified and efficient data query, the ability to visualize data over time, and ways to synthesize multidimensional data from diverse sources. These capabilities will provide new information for analyzing issues from an ecosystem perspective, which will ultimately result in better understanding of fisheries and better support for decision-making. (PDF file contains 45 pages.)

Environmental characteristics of the marine and estuarine habitats of Karwar: an overview

A review is made of the environmental features of Karwar coastal waters, describing the currents, waves, inshore water hydrology and bottom features of the bay. The intertidal and the estuarine environment are described, considering various environmental stress factors. Future prospects regarding man's effects on the environment, such as development projects, are discussed briefly.

Social and gender analysis report: Barotse Floodplain, Western Province,Zambia

There is increasing awareness that integrating gender into development frameworks is critical for effective implementation of development strategies. In working to alleviate rural poverty, the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) recognizes that “business as usual” gender integration approaches will not deliver lasting and widespread improvements in agricultural productivity, poverty reduction and food security. In response, AAS operationalized a gender transformative approach. The approach is informed by conceptual frameworks that explicitly recognize the potent influence of social relations on creating and perpetuating gender inequalities. In this way, AAS aims to address the underlying causes of rural poverty and gender inequality in Zambia’s Barotse Floodplain, where people rely extensively on riverine and wetland ecosystems for food and livelihood security. A central question guiding the research program is “How do social norms and gendered power relations influence agricultural development outcomes?” The findings presented in this report provide insights that help answer this question. The report presents a review of literature relevant to livelihoods, ecosystem services, and gender and social relations in Zambia, with a specific focus on Western Province, where AAS is currently implemented. It also presents a synthesis of findings of a social and gender analysis conducted in 2013 in 10 focal communities situated in and around the Barotse Floodplain.

The ADP/FS frame survey of Lake Kyoga and Lake Kwania

The report provides a summary of the frame survey results carried out in lakes Kyoga and Kwania in 1990. The ADP Fisheries Survey of Lake Kyoga is charged with a stock-assessment programme. The term stock-assessment is generally used to express the need of fisheries managers for knowledge on fish stocks which are allegedly over-exploited already. Stock-assessment can be very comprehensive, costly and time-consuming. Essentially however, investigations into exploited stocks and the fishery should provide viable answers to the questions of management at the shortest possible notice. Surveys should in any case provide indications concerning the rate of exploitation. That requires the execution of a catch assessment survey (CAS).

Report of the catch assessment survey: fishery survey of Kyoga Lakes August 1990 - March 1991

This report presents the information obtained during catch assessment surveys made by the ADP Fishery Survey of Lake Kyoga and Lake Kwania between August 1990 and July 1991. It supersedes previous interim reports on these surveys. The Kyoga lakes had not been surveyed in a long time. Information on the state of the stocks was largely confined conclusions drawn from data collected along the southern shore of L.Kyoga proper. The effect of harmful/illegal gear types on the stocks was not documented. Part I provides a description of the survey. Part II comprises a review of the fishing strategies. Parts III and IV present the principal results obtained on L.Kyoga and L.Kwania. Part V presents a discussion of the main conclusions.

Frame survey (census of boats and fishing gear) Lake Kyoga and Lake Kwania (Uganda), May-June 1990

The census of a fishing industry is called a frame survey. This is a rather comprehensive term, because there are many aspects of a fishery which one might wish to know. This is illustrated by the report on the partial census executed by the ADP/FS on the southern landings of L.Kyoga during December 1988, which deals with many socio-economic aspects of fishermen's households.

The role of agricultural co-operatives in the development of fisheries in Nigeria

Problems faced by the fishery sector in Nigeria are examined and the role that agricultural cooperatives play in fishery development considered. The importance of improving the marketing and distribution system through fishermen cooperatives is stressed. It is concluded that for the successful implementation of fishery products, there is need for regular communication, cooperation and collaboration among relative agencies

Impact of Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) loan to artisanal fishermen in Lake Kainji

This study was conducted to assess the impact of Nigerian Agricultural, Co-operative and Rural Development Bank Loan on beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries fishermen in Lake Kainji. A total of fifty fishermen (25 beneficiaries and 25 non-beneficiaries) were randomly selected from five fishing villages along the lake basin. Data collected were scored and the percentages of the parameters were calculated appropriately. The types of loans disbursed to beneficiaries revealed that 52% was cash and 48% was in kind. The credit package ranged between N5, 000 to N150, 000 only. Only 48% of the loans granted were paid while the rest remained unpaid. The results obtained from the membership of fishermen Cooperative showed that 64% of beneficiaries were members while 36% were non-members. Also 36% of non-beneficiaries were members while 64% were not. The Common fishing gears used by the two categories of fishermen include gillnets longline, castnet and driftnets. Sixty percent of beneficiaries and 8% of non-beneficiaries fishermen were using canoe with outboard engines while the rest used canoes with paddles. Beneficiaries earned a higher income (N1, 000 to N9, 000) daily than non-beneficiaries (N1, 000 to N6, 000) daily from sales of fish caught. Major contrainsts to increased catch and income identified include inadequate capital, non- availability of fishing inputs, stealing of fishing gears, lack of access to credit facilities and menace of stump and water hyacinth in the lake. Lastly, recommendation were made for the bank management, government and other lending institutions on how to improve the livelihood of the Artisanal fishermen by increasing the loan usually granted

Evaluation of NRA tracking studies. Future projects and technical development

Fish tracking is a valuable technique for the provision of detailed information on the behaviour patterns of individual fish especially during estuarine and riverine migration. 2. Tracking studies help in the provision of a comprehensive description of the variety offish behaviour patterns in response to factors such as water flow, obstructions and water quality. 3. There are advantages to be gained by complementing fish tracking studies with data collected from fish counters and vice versa. 4. An overall evaluation of NRA fish tracking projects is presented in the wider context of NRA strategic research objectives. 5. The requirement for future development of tracking equipment, improved data analysis techniques, better communication and more immediate report preparation is identified. 6. Individual project evaluation is given for NRA (or the appropriate Water Authority predecessor) tracking studies conducted on the Ribble estuary, the River Tamar, River Torridge, Rivers Test and Itchen, River Lodden, the Welsh River Dee, River Glaslyn, River Taff, River Tawe, River Tywi, River Usk, Rivers Avon and Stour and the River Frome. 7. An outline for future strategic research is provided which identifies particular areas for study:- i) Identification of environmental factors which control the entry of fish into rivers. ii) Improvement of the understanding of the relationship between water flow and upstream movement of salmonids. iii) Examination of the detailed movements and behaviour of fish in relation to obstructions. iv) Closer definition of water quality requirements for salmonid fish. v) Definition of habitat preferences of salmonids in rivers. vi) Subsidiary topics such as the movements of non-salmonid fish and the downstream migration of kelts and juvenile salmonids.

Research in development: learning from the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems

This working paper aims to synthesize and share learning from the experience of adapting and operationalizing the Research in Development(RinD) approach to agricultural research in the five hubs under the The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems. It seeks to share learning about how the approach is working in context and to explore the outcomes it is achieving through initial implementation over 3 ½ years. This learning can inform continuation of agricultural research in the second phase of the CGIAR research programs and will be useful to others aiming to implement research programs that seek to equitably build capacity to innovate in complex social-ecological systems. Each of the chapters in this working paper have shown that RinD has produced a range of outcomes that were often unexpected and broader in scope than might result from other approaches to agricultural research. RinD also produces innovations, and there is evidence that it builds capacity to innovate.