New Delhi; Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing, 2016. xxiv, 414 pp. (Illustrations, maps.) US$65.00, cloth. ISBN 978-93-515-0652-2.
The researchers contributing chapters in the book under review drew inspiration from the first goal of the Millennial Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2000, namely the eradication of poverty. They narrowed down the focus of their research to studying poverty reduction in four of India’s community natural resource management (CNRM) programs: participatory irrigation management, watershed development, joint forest management, and inland fishing cooperatives. The selection of the programs is premised on the belief that they all share many common features. The research project aims to study the four programs comparatively. The states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (MP) provide the context for the comparative aspect of the project. The book explores “two main questions, namely whether the promise of community managerial success has been realized and whether the CNRM projects and institutions have made an impact on Indian rural poverty” (xxii).
The book is neither the work of a single scholar nor an edited volume. Five scholars have contributed chapters to the book. They have worked together closely, and have been involved in each other’s contributions to the extent that the outcome can “be considered as jointly authored” (xxiii). There are eight chapters. Chapters 3 through 6 are on four CNRM programs, each written by a specialist. The introductory and concluding chapters, 1, 7, and 8, are written by a generalist in CNRM studies, John R. Wood. It is interesting to note that the chapters that involve introducing the subject matter of the book, drawing conclusions, and making generalizations and the all-important job of making recommendations based on the findings of the research are written by a political scientist whose disciplinary training gives him an edge over his team members when it comes to the question of making generalizations from data collected. Chapter 2 is co-authored by the generalist in the team, John R. Wood, and two specialists, Shashidharan Enarth and Amita Shah.
Gujarat has adopted a more “bottom-up,” gradual approach that involves grassroots initiatives and NGO inputs with regard to CNRM, whereas MP has taken a more “top-down,” rapid, and government-led approach. Thus, the selection of these two states for carrying out their fieldwork allowed the researchers “to see how differing approaches to implementation and operation in these two states made a difference to programmatic outcomes” (5). While acknowledging the serious limitations of the representative character of their samples, it is claimed that their research led to the discovery of a “range of successes versus failures (and all the gradations in between) of CNRM institutions” that they found both “challenging” and “enlightening” to analyze (39).
Chapter 2 explores the conceptual and methodological issues addressed in the research project. It also spells out the details of the fieldwork, including the focus group discussions and the household survey. Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 present research findings and analysis of the four CNRM programs of participatory irrigation management, watershed development, joint forest management, and inland fishing cooperatives, respectively. A comparative perspective is maintained to bring out similarities and dissimilarities in initiation, performance, and outcomes of programs. All specialists writing chapters 3 through 6 attempt to answer a set of questions that guided their research: “1) At the village level, how was the CNRM project and institution introduced? 2) How did the project and institution perform, both de jure and de facto, in terms of CNRM goals? 3) What was the extent of productivity and income increase? 4) How decentralized and inclusive was the governance of the CNRM institution? 5) What has been the impact on the poor members of the village? 6) How integrated was the project intervention and what was the extent of the outreach? 7) How has the project and institution contributed to effective, equitable and sustainable resource management?” (40–41). Though with significant variations, the similarities and the differences that the answers bring out are instructive in drawing generalized conclusions and making appropriate recommendations.
In chapter 4, Jharna Pathak maintains that the “empirical realities presented and discussed will serve to create a conceptual framework (such as that used by Bandaragoda and Firdousi, 1992: 28) within which the impact of community participation, poverty and equity can be examined” (124). However, nowhere in the chapter is it clear what the conceptual framework is that the writer is referring to, nor is the reference mentioned in the section on references and select bibliography. Her use of the concept of “coercive cooperation” to explain government strategy wherein certain benefits are made contingent upon the end-users forming a cooperative is noteworthy.
Comparative findings presented in chapters 3 through 6 are explored in chapter 7 in the way of conclusions. Chapter 8 presents the main deficiencies of CNRM in the two states and suggests policy changes regarding CNRM and its role in the reduction of poverty in India. It ends on a note of optimism that the CNRM experiment in India “is worth pursuing as a vehicle for reaching the goal of ‘inclusive growth’” (385).
This book is a timely effort to examine the CNRM experiment in India, and it makes important recommendations to policy makers, NGOs, and activists working in the area of community resource management. For instance, examining the experience of JFM institutions in chapter 6, Madhu Verma’s suggestion to future policy-makers is “to ensure that sustainable livelihood interventions need to be accompanied by communication on the local project’s benefits and the importance of forest conservation” (353). Verma is also for greater involvement of NGOs specializing in CNRM projects to get better results. As well, drawing conclusion in chapter 7, John R. Wood recommends: “Thus it is essential that Project Implementation Agencies, whether they be government officials or NGO activists, set the terms early on as to how equity and sustainability are to be achieved, and follow through on both” (371).
The book will be equally useful to students and scholars of development studies as it brings to them important insights into the functioning of CNRM projects in different regions of India directly by those involved in conducting field studies.
Ganeshdatta Poddar
Foundation for Liberal and Management Education University, Pune, India
pp. 609-611