The existence of strong local institutions is a prerequisite for good governance and equitable natural resource management. Local institutional strengthening, particularly in the form of association development, has been strongly promoted by IFAD since its inception in the late 1970s. By encouraging the creation and support of herders’ and range users’ associations in several countries, IFAD has led the way in empowering rangeland users, and its model of association development has been adopted by other donors and development community members. The Fund’s success in institutional development in the rangelands is partly due to its long-term view of the participatory planning process. It views effective association development among herders as a cumulative process that requires continuous participatory dialogue over extended periods of time.

Participatory processes, therefore, have played a large part in the institutional strengthening components of a wide variety of projects. Moreover, institutions supported by IFAD cover a broad spectrum of different rangeland activities. For example, the Qinghai/Hainan Prefecture Agricultural Development Project in China created grassland management units to control overgrazing and stock numbers. In the National Livestock Project in the Central African Republic, herders’ associations filled the void for public services by creating privatized livestock drug delivery systems. In addition, pastoralist organizations have been created under the Livestock and Pasture Development Project in the Eastern Region in Morocco and, most recently, under the Arhangai Rural Poverty Alleviation Project in Mongolia.

IFAD’s experience shows that successful pastoral institutions are dependent upon the following key elements. First, it is necessary to promote full pastoral participation. To achieve this, a variety of new methodologies in institution building are needed, such as action-planning techniques and participatory conflict management and resolution processes. Secondly, any modification of the planning system in dynamic ecological systems should not only recognize the mobility of the pastoralists but also encourage and make use of the strategy. And thirdly, the capacity of pastoral institutions to plan and evaluate should be strengthened. Thus, the provision of appropriate training and education, which should include, among other things, a legal component (covering rights, obligations, legislation and legal texts), is required.

For the establishment of appropriate herder organizations, the existing socio-territorial organization must first be clearly understood. Second, development objectives and priorities must be formulated. And, finally, forms of association that build appropriately on customary institutions must be identified and assisted. The process raises several important points, which have been corroborated by IFAD’s experience in the field:

• Decision-making must be thoroughly understood. There is a tendency to identify the principal organizational unit and to load that single structure with all the responsibilities envisioned under the project. Instead, it should be established how individual functions in natural resources management are to be exercised, and then to apportion responsibilities and strengthen local management accordingly.
• Resource tenure warrants particular attention. If land is being lost from the pastoral system, upgrading natural resource management capability will not be of much help. If local institutions are proposed for legal recognition in order to counter incursion, it will be necessary to ensure that there is a form of organization recognized under the law as competent to exercise authority over the land.
• Institutional capacity should guide project design. Inputs that are thought to be desirable but do not have an existing mechanism for their management or control should not be considered at all.
• Organizational support should be provided at more than one level. For example, one area of support may relate to specific functions such as animal health or water management; another area might involve the leadership structure, not necessarily in terms of any physical input but in order to ensure official recognition so that lower-level organizations can receive needed support in conflict resolution.
• Secondary users often need to be accommodated to ensure that seasonal rights of access are honoured by primary project beneficiaries or are met in other ways.

Pastoral institutions and the state play complementary roles. The former should be able to:

• formulate resource management plans and ensure their implementation;
• negotiate movement for pastoralists at an inter-institutional level;
• plan action to be undertaken by the institution;
• organize the provision of services;
• resolve conflicts at the first level; and
• preserve collective and land rights.

At the same time, the state should:

• ensure minimum services and funds;
• define and ensure an overall legal and judicial framework for pastoral institutions;
• supervise security and equity issues;
• ensure the democratic political framework necessary for institution building;
• provide support and advice to pastoral institutions;
• negotiate agreements and modalities concerning international livestock movement with other states; and
• be the party of last resort in conflict resolution and the implementation of regulations.

There are many different types of herder organizations. Most are called upon to exercise similar natural resource management functions, such as defining territory, negotiating and resolving conflicts on access to resources, and managing grazing and water. The type of organization chosen by project planners depends on the aims and objectives of the organization and the legal framework in which it is expected to operate. The following describes the major types of organizations that have been used by IFAD in rangeland development projects, and their legal attributes.

Committees are groups of people who are self-selected or appointed by the decision of a larger body for the purpose of reviewing or overseeing a matter of common interest. Although committees may be action-oriented decision-making bodies and able to commit resources, the groups generally have no status under existing laws and therefore cannot own property or be held legally responsible for their actions. The Qinghai/Hainan Prefecture Agricultural Development Project in China offers an example of committee formation.

Associations are generally understood to be either traditional or modern common interest groupings that provide a framework for concerted action by a substantial body of people. Associations hold no statutory responsibility for land or property, although if registered with a government department or local authority they may enjoy quasi-legal status sufficient to allow them to acquire credit. In such cases, the members would have a written constitution provided or approved by the overseeing authority.

The management responsibilities of associations should be specific and clearly outlined. For example, successes have been noted where group responsibilities are limited to specific areas such as grazing resources, water supply (such as boreholes), other services or marketing (e.g. the Livestock and Pasture Development Project in the Eastern Region in Morocco and the Qinghai/Hainan Prefecture Agricultural Development Project in China).

When introducing new associations to build management responsibility and capability in unaccustomed fields, it is better to focus initially on the inputs and activities in greatest demand, such as new water supplies or animal health services (e.g. the Kidal Food and Income Security Programme in Mali and the National Livestock Project in the Central African Republic).

Associations should also have a relatively homogeneous membership. A typical association might include as few as 20 or as many as 200 families (e.g. the Badia Rangelands Development Project in Syria), depending on the size and nature of the communities and the concentration of the herder population.

Federations are alliances of associations or corporations, usually formed in order to facilitate overall grazing management, the sharing of resources, or joint ventures in areas such as veterinary input delivery and water development. Most IFAD projects that have encouraged the formation of associations have also intended that the associations should eventually be united in a federal structure. The advantages are the possibility of representation for herders on a national level and the increased efficiency of schemes such as rotational grazing plans.

The case studies reviewed suggest that two of the main problems encountered in the development of range users’ associations relate to equity and financial and managerial sustainability. For example, the creation of associations has sometimes been of greater advantage to richer herders rather than to the poorer ones. Generally, herders’ associations supported by IFAD have been inspired by the traditional customary tenure regimes and authority systems. However, care must be taken to ensure that traditional authority systems promote equal access to resources for the most vulnerable households.

The absence of management skills and income-generating abilities among association leaders has also caused problems in the development of viable institutions. Although projects have tried to overcome weaknesses related to lack of management skills by means of training, low literacy levels among many herder groups limit the possibilities for training in many management techniques such as bookkeeping. Consequently, greater efforts must be made to ensure that basic literacy and numerical training are incorporated into project cycles. Cultural considerations also play a major role in determining the success or failure of any institution. In many communities, limiting leadership to educated young people who do not have the support of the elders has proved unsuccessful (e.g. the Western Savannah Project —Phase II in The Sudan).

Furthermore, many associations have difficulty in securing stable sources of income. To address the problem, some projects have successfully charged levies on services provided, such as on the delivery of animal health services or grazing fees. For example, one of IFAD’s most positive experiences in terms of assisting in the creation of herder associations, in the Central African Republic, involved the operation of revolving funds for veterinary drug stores. However, without strong managerial skills, such an innovation may run into difficulties.

Relevant IFAD Projects