LOCAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: STRATEGIC DIMENSIONS OF PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION

Abstract

With the use of examples from Rwanda Nepal Burkina Faso the Philippines and India community participation in resource management is examined. Resource management is based on the interaction between the physical resource base the production system or activities and the social regulations governing access to resources their use and distribution of benefits. Sustainable development is construed as the highest productivity growth permitted by an equal distribution of economic assets and opportunities and compatible with the stability of the resource base. The requirements for environmental equilibrium would be 1) local resource management 2) full participation of the local population relying on traditional forms of organization and area-specific knowledge 3) the best use of resources and 4) the adaptation of outside intervention to the local situation. The country-specific examples were selected from infrastructure participatory development programs in resource management which were implemented by the International Labor Organization. When rehabilitation is very labor-intensive as in Rwanda and Burkina Faso the internal drive and will of the people to pursue self-defined objectives are more likely to produce the desired results in a cooperative effort than are organization and mobilization from the outside. In Nepal and Guinea successful participatory development relied on the way participation was initiated by whom and how and on the institutional structure of participatory groups. A necessary part of the process was peoples involvement in planning execution use and maintenance. Rules of access and resource management determined the ecological effects in the Philippines the Sahel and India; unregulated access to common resources has usually meant rapid depletion of resources. Knowledge and experience in resource management can be facilitated through a participatory approach. The rules governing resource use and the choice of technology which ensure longterm employment and income depend on broad-based access particularly for the poor; an appropriate technology mix for adequate regeneration of resources; and a clearly-defined and freely-accepted local responsibility. Local responsibility is necessary but nations have the responsibility to ensure the poors access to resources to address inequitable asset distribution and to provide a political climate favorable to participatory development.